Jail Mate
by o0oBeezelneffo0o
Summary: Sasuke is King of the Cells until Naruto comes along. Read Naruto's journey of prison punishments, therapy sessions, friends made, enemy plots, romance and their crimes; how does Naruto who is so sweet get imprisoned for murder SasuNaru...
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Sasuke P.O.V

_I have been in jail since just before my seventeenth birthday. I am now eighteen. _

_I have been called every name in the book since I was caught – then again, I did it in bright daylight in front of everyone in a crowded street. I killed someone. I won't go in to the details right now but I killed someone._

_My trial was short – so much evidence pointed to me, forensics, witnesses – they easily jailed me, let me off the death penalty because of my reason. _

_When I reached jail I was praised for it. I was the only murderer in the Junior Division. Everyone feared me but I steadily grew a following. These people idolised me for my crime though I don't know why. _

_My prison life was probably the best it could have been._

_And then he arrived. He upstaged me, he called me names, he wasn't afraid of me, he stood up for me, he fought for me, he told me things he's never told anyone else, he became my friend… he became my lover. _

_He was my new jail mate._

2007. August 10th.

Chidori State Prison.

Konoha

The Land of Fire


	2. First Day Sucks Pt 1

**Story number 4! I hope you like it. I am glad that so many people like my Hypnotism story and I hope this one is enjoyed just as much. However this is still a SasuNaru story…**

**This is kind of a long chapter so I split it in to two parts… **

Chapter 1

"Here's your uniform criminal now come here". Asuma threw the dull coloured uniform at Naruto who caught it and shot the guard a dirty look. As soon as Naruto had caught the uniform, Asuma grabbed him by his sleeve and yanked him towards him – Asuma chained Naruto up around his hands and held the chain leading him, wrenching it to drag Naruto onward, deeper in to his new home. The chains rattled and clanged together as Asuma dragged Naruto through rows and rows of doors – each with a very complicated looking locking mechanism on it and a small window with a shutter attached. The walls were thick and so were the doors. It didn't look as though sound could escape from the rooms at all. The floors were made of concrete and the walls were a creamy dirty colour – everything was dull and colourless here.

Naruto was looking around when Asuma stopped in front of him, resulting in Naruto walking in to him. Asuma pushed him forcefully away from him and his eyes narrowed as he spoke.

"This is your cell – it's a double and you will be sharing with Sasuke Uchiha.".

"Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yeah, he's not in at the moment, he's off with another officer. He'll be back soon so be prepared".

"What for?"

"Just be prepared". The officer unlocked the door and Naruto's chains. "Change in to that and hand me your old uniform. You won't be wearing that orange thing anymore".

Naruto sulked at the prospect of not being able to wear his favourite colour anymore, changed and threw the clothes at Asuma. Asuma shut the door on him and Naruto could hear the locks being shut quietly from the other side. Naruto had ultra sensitive hearing that resulted in him hearing things no one else could – no one else could have heard the locks being turned.

Naruto stared at the door before turning to look at the rest of the room. It was all the same creamy colour on the walls and the walls were still grey and made of concrete. There was a small window overlooking the gates to the entrance of the prison – it had bars over. It was not like anyone human could fit through anyway but it was another precaution. It also made people outside feel better. There was a door leading in to a small toilet and sink to the right and in the room was a set of metal bunk-beds, a chest of drawers that had clean uniform in, with a lamp on top and a small old and ragged grey armchair next to it with a stack of old books placed on the seat. Naruto reached out for some of the books and noticed they all had a religious theme. Scoffing at the books Naruto turned to the bunks. The bottom bunk had a lived in sort of feel – it was nowhere near as tidy as the top bunk.

"I'm up top then", Naruto said to himself.

Naruto climbed up the ladder, wobbling slightly at its unsteadiness, and relaxed in to the bunk. It felt a little more comfortable then it looked but it was nothing compared to his comfy bed back home.

"I wish I could see them", he muttered to himself.

It was at least another ten minutes before Naruto heard the sound of the locks being turned and low voices – though he couldn't make out what they were saying. Soon he saw his new cell-mate; Sasuke Uchiha. The raven haired pale teen's black eyes found Naruto and glared at him. He happened to be quite good looking – scratch that gorgeous – and Naruto shuddered a bit to himself.

The door shut and the locks turned – Naruto was alone with the raven.

"So, you're my new jail mate then?"

"Guess so". Naruto looked at the boy – he seemed to be quite cocky for someone in prison.

"Well, just so you know, I own these cells so I would watch it if I were you".

"You? Own these cells?" Naruto smirked and the raven glared at him harder.

"Yeah. I'm the number one out of the juniors. I guess you're a new junior as well – how old are you?"

"Eighteen".

"Well, certainly interesting – you don't hit with the seniors until your over twenty-one. I'm eighteen too".

"Alright then".

"And, I will warn you to watch out for some of the seniors around here – they can be brutal and brash".

"What about you? Mr Big Shot? Get off your high horse you arrogant prick!" Naruto glared at him.

"You'll regret saying things like that to me".

"Oooh! I'm scared; not if I take over your position".

Both of the teens glared at each other. Sasuke broke off eventually and laid down on his bunk, not saying anymore. Naruto laid back down on his bed and looked at the ceiling. The two sat in silence – prison life already sucked.

It was about an hour or so later when the locks turned again.

"Dinner, dining room, now". It was a different guard this time. He had almost all of his face covered up and his hair was a silver colour – it was strange as he didn't look very old at all.

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke as he climbed down his ladder – the expression on Sasuke's face was very sour as he looked at the guard.

"Kakashi-officer", Sasuke snarled. It sure looked like the two didn't get on.

"Well, well, this is the new arrival to cell 666. I feel sorry for you", Kakashi rounded on Naruto, "being stuck with him. He's been in here a while now and he'll be here quite a lot longer if I'm not mistaken".

Sasuke glared at the guard, it held a lot more evil and a lot more hatred in. His eyes looked as though they were going to turn red with anger.

"Come on then", Kakashi forcefully grabbed Sasuke and chained him up; he took out another pair of chains and grabbed Naruto, a little less vigorously and led them both to the dining room.

Dinner was not a pleasant event.

Naruto and Sasuke walked in to the dining room. The chains were released and Kakashi stood to monitor the room along with some of the other officers.

The room was split in to two parts – one side had all the younger looking criminals and the other side had the older criminals. The décor was the same; greys and dirty creams everywhere. No wonder prison was so gloomy with the colour scheme. There were large tables and some smaller ones around the room, many with groups of friends. In the pit of Naruto's stomach, anxiousness started to bubble. He was new, where was he to go? Plus, everyone in the room had committed a crime of some sort. Now what?

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto and as though reading his mind and seeing his fear; he beckoned Naruto silently to follow him. Sasuke walked up to the queue and some of the junior cell people moved out of his way to let him in front. He whispered something to them and they also allowed Naruto to queue jump them as well. They were given their meal – a small plain roll, about five plain crisps, two tiny cherry tomatoes and several scraps of lettuce. They were also given a small plastic cup of water to wash it down.

Sasuke walked over to a nearby table with seven others on it, already chatting. When they saw Sasuke, they all waved at him and made a space in the middle of the group for him. Naruto could tell that this is what he meant when he said he owned the junior cells. He stood there, hovering, in silence as the group all stopped talking and stared at him.

"This is my new cell mate", Sasuke said waving his hand in Naruto's direction.

"I'm Naruto".

"Woah! We have a new piece of meat – well have a seat next to me!" the brunette smiled at him – he had red marks down his cheeks and a mischievous grin on his face that all too reminded him of himself. Naruto sat down next to him and the brunette put an unperverted arm around his shoulders. "So are you the dude who replaced Zaku".

"Who?"

"My old cell mate, Zaku. He committed armed robbery – he had a fight with one of the officers and was transferred". Sasuke's voice sounded flat and uncaring but Naruto spotted the hidden emotion in the sentence he said, if no one else heard.

"Well, let's just hope you are more fun?" the brunette laughed slightly. "I'm Kiba".

A guy wearing a pair of dark, perfectly circular glasses and scruffy hair nodded at him. "I'm Shino". His voice sounded slightly creepy. Naruto made a mental note to be wary of him.

"Shikamaru", the voice who said this had dark hair that was tied up.

"I'm Neji". They guy who said this rounded on him with white eerie eyes and long brown hair. He had some sort of band around his head that covered his forehead with a symbol on. Naruto had no idea what it meant.

"Gaara", a redhead with pale green eyes uttered.

"Kankuro! I'm Gaara's brother". He smiled, eyes closed, a cheesy grin. He had purple paint over his face in an elaborate style. He had quite a cheerful voice for someone locked up.

"I am Lee! Rock Lee!" Naruto turned to stare at the bowl haired, bushy eye browed guy who did some kind of weird salute to say greet him.

Naruto looked around the bunch of guys that sat at the table, thinking they were a lot of really weird people.

"How are you enjoying prison?"

"I've only been here a few hours. But already its shit", Naruto answered, scraping at the food on his plate. He was nervous and didn't feel like eating much. He looked at Kiba; he was not helping, asking all these questions.

"Well, you get used to prison life quite quickly – what with everyone telling you what to do. No freedom, prison sucks. I've been here for over two years now – armed robbery", Kiba said with a grin, "my partner killed himself in another prison last year. Couldn't handle it".

Naruto looked at him – his face was expressionless. He wondered how many stories he was going to here about the others crowded around the table.

"Here we go again", Sasuke muttered.

"You think you're so cool because you got done for armed robbery? Drug trafficking is a way more dangerous business", Shino argued. Shikamaru nodded with him.

"You need more skill for fraud though", Lee interjected.

"No, breaking and entering as well as assault means you are the toughest", Gaara and Kankuro added.

The group argued for some time before Kiba rounded on Naruto, asking him what he did to end up in prison.

"I'm not telling you – I just met you!"

"Aww, come on, unless it's something embarrassing. You aren't a paedophile are you?" Kiba hushed his voice.

"No!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Well then what'd you do?"

"I'm not going to say – you're all boasting about how great your crime is! You are stuck in here without freedom now!"

"So are you".

"Yeah, because I did something stupid". Naruto glared at Kiba.

"So what did you do? Talking about our crimes is one of the only things that set us all apart".

"Kiba, don't pressurize him. It's obviously something stupid and embarrassing", Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah Sasuke's a murderer!" Kiba said, darkly.

Naruto's attention snapped and turned to Sasuke. "What?"

"Murdered someone", Sasuke said. His eyes darkened and he clenched his fist.

"Yeah, so he is top dog! The only murderer in the Junior Division", Kiba answered, shaking Sasuke's hand.

"How many?" Naruto asked.

"One person", Sasuke answered almost smugly. Naruto could see what Sasuke meant about being the leader now. He was going to upstage the raven and embarrass him.

"Well, now he's not the only one", Naruto said, putting his hands behind his head.

"What?" the group all turned to stare at him.

"I win the boast war. I'm top dog now".

"What? How?"

"I'm a murderer too. I killed TWO people".

"N-no way!" Kiba looked at Naruto in a horrified awe. All the others in the group rounded on Naruto treating him like they treated Sasuke. Sasuke looked stunned and angry – he couldn't believe his ears! This blonde was capable of killing two people. But… he didn't look like he was capable of hurting anyone.

"That's a lie! Look at the wimp!" Sasuke said.

Naruto looked at Sasuke – eyes gleaming with malice and laughter. "What's wrong? Someone here to take over you; you scared?"

Sasuke thought back to the threats in the cell earlier and was shocked that the blonde didn't just talk trash – he carried it out too. Sasuke looked at the blonde who was cringing slightly from all the attention – Sasuke was starting to like him.

Sasuke sat back and watched as the blonde grew more uncomfortable and smirked at him when he caught the blonde's eye.

"What did you use then?"

"Knife – ten inch".

"How did you get caught?"

"Slipped through police protection and killed the two fuckers before they noticed. Arrested on the spot. Died before the police could save them. Though I don't know why they should have been kept alive", Naruto's voice was growing angry.

"Why? What did they do?"

Naruto stopped and stared at Sasuke who obviously liked making the blonde feel like he was. He didn't intend on revealing why – it was personal. Naruto smacked the table with his fist and marched over to Kakashi who was standing by the entrance to the dining room.

"Am I with you again? Can you take me away from this place?"

"To the cell it is", Kakashi answered, grabbing Naruto's hands and chaining them up. He dragged Naruto back to the cell as Naruto followed in thought.

Continued…


	3. First Day Sucks Pt 2

Continued…

As soon as he was let in, he looked out of the window. He viewed the gate – the gate of freedom. There was some sort of protest outside. Naruto strained his eyes and ears to try to find out who they were protesting and whether it was for or against.

He smacked the door outside really loud and started shouting. The shutter opened and he saw the eye of Kakashi peering through.

"What do you want?"

"There's a protest outside the gate. What's it about?"

"I don't know, protest you say?" I'll go find out".

Kakashi closed the shutter and Naruto heard his steps go away. It was ten or so minutes later when Kakashi arrived back, though he was accompanied by Sasuke. Naruto glared at the raven who returned it with a smirk.

"Well Naruto, there is a protest outside as you said – they are actually protesting for your release out of prison". Sasuke's face was shocked when he heard and turned to Kakashi in disbelief.

"It seems each of you don't know why the other is in here do you? Or the stories behind? I'll leave you to talk now". Kakashi left the room, locking up behind him.

Naruto didn't look at his cell mate and jumped up to his bunk. He lay there and refused to look at the raven who was continually looking at him

"What?" Naruto eventually asked without looking at him.

"You don't look like a murderer; why are you really in here? Why are people protesting your release?"

"Why should I tell you? You don't look like someone capable of killing but looks can be deceiving I guess. You were down there boasting with the others about you being the 'top dog' of the Junior Division. Who cares? I certainly don't. I don't believe you killed anyone either".

"Well I did but my story is different. I acted on impulse – I saw him and I shot him. I had to get my revenge on what he did to me".

"Who? What did he do?"

"I'm not saying until you tell me really why you're here".

Naruto sighed and swivelled his body to face Sasuke. "I really did kill two people".

"I don't believe you".

"Fine. Ask the prison guard officers whatever they're called. Maybe I'll ask them about you". Naruto turned again and ignored the raven who so obviously wanted to know more about him, and didn't want to talk about himself.

"Fine, let's say I do believe you – why would you have killed some people?"

Naruto was silent for a few minutes before he answered.

"I… I acted on impulse, on anger. I got my revenge on what they did".

"Who? What did they do?"

Naruto smiled as the realisation of what Sasuke had said hit home. Sasuke was doing exactly what Naruto was a minute ago – asking the same questions. He had managed to turn it around so Naruto was in control of the answer.

"You're a dobe".

"You're a bastard".

The two glared at each other. Sasuke looked at the blonde – this was the most interaction with anyone in a while. His friends weren't in the same cell and he only saw them for a little amount each day. This blonde in front of him – if he really did what he said – was going to be in here for a long time just like him. Sasuke climbed on his bed and lay there silent until Naruto broke it with a most unusual question.

"What do you guys do for fun around here?" the voice asked from above.

"This is prison. There is no fun".

"There must be something you do for fun – like prank the guards or something".

"Are you serious? That's stupid! You will get in so much trouble!"

"Are you chicken or something?" Naruto teased.

"No", Sasuke answered stubbornly

"Fine, do a prank then".

Sasuke couldn't believe his ears. This idiot wanted to pull a prank in PRISON. He really was a dobe – or daring. This ha to be his first time in prison if he didn't know the rules.

"Is this your first time in prison?" Sasuke asked.

"Yep. I was a law-abiding citizen until last week. Most people said that I should have been let off due to insanity pledge but the judge wouldn't allow it. One juror knew the people I had killed, refusing to let me off lightly. No justice they said so they will protest".

"But why did you kill people with no reason?"

"I have my reason but I'm not sharing it with you until you do with me. Earn my respect – do a prank".

Sasuke paused.

"Fine, give me an idea".

"Well, hmm, let me think. Set off an alarm, of some sort. Just think of who you want to prank and act on impulse – do what you want".

"Prank Kakashi-officer definitely", Sasuke answered.

"Okay, I always keep a pen in my shoe, for emergency reasons – something to do with… someone. There is some plain paper in those books over there. Make a sign on Kakashi's back and let him walk around wearing it. Could be interesting.

"Alright. How about you perverted bastard? I got him with some very dirty erotic novels not too long ago".

"Whatever you like".

Sasuke took the pen from Naruto and took some paper from the books.

"Wait, how do we stick it on him?"

"Sellotape".

"Wait, you carry Sellotape with you too?"

"No, its old but there is some Sellotape in those books also, some holding up the pages together as the prison can't obviously be bothered to spend money on new books. Just use some of that".

"Do you think of everything?"

"I'm a born prankster. I've been pranking for years".

"So what now?"

"I'll call Kakashi for something. Say we're out of toilet roll or something, which we actually are. I'll distract him, you put it on".

"Sure".

Sasuke hadn't had this much fun and excitement in a while. He was stimulated – he had to do it now.

Naruto nodded to him and started smacking the door. Kakashi appeared at the shutter, the eye looking around the small cell. "What?"

"Toilet roll".

"And?"

"We need some more – it's our rights for prison".

"Fine", Kakashi walked off and opened the lock to give it in.

"Hey can you show me how to put it in please? I'm new after all".

"Why can't Uchiha show you?"

"Well, he won't as we don't get on", Naruto turned to glare at Sasuke who returned it ferociously.

"Fine then", Kakashi answered. He walked in to the separate cubicle and started explaining it to Naruto. Sasuke snuck the sign on to his back loosely. It wouldn't stick – the Sellotape was too old, plus Sasuke couldn't chance hitting too hard. It was then that Sasuke saw Naruto trip Kakashi slightly.

"Oh I'm sorry – I didn't mean to do that. Complete accident", Naruto tapped the spot with the sign hard to show that he was sorry. Sasuke sat on the bed and smirked.

"Thanks for showing me. I'll bear that in mind for the future. I also know not to rely on him for help". Naruto turned and glared at Sasuke again. He winked slightly when Kakashi wasn't looking to show he was just kidding.

Naruto led Kakashi out and said goodbye. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him after Kakashi had locked the door.

"And now we wait", Naruto replied.

The two cellmates lay on there beds; Naruto was reading one of the books from the chair and Sasuke was silently pretending to go to sleep. It was then that Naruto heard the start of the locking mechanism.

"Sasuke, they're coming in", he whispered. Sasuke tapped the bunk to know he heard.

The door opened to reveal Kakashi and two other people Naruto hadn't seen yet.

"Alright, who was it?" the blonde woman who asked had long blonde hair and had large breasts. She had s small blue diamond on her forehead and Naruto didn't know why – her glare was so fierce it could probably kill small animals.

"We've traced it back to this room", the old man next to her said. He had long scruffy white hair, a more aged face, red lines coming down from his eyes down his cheeks and he was a largely built man both height and build. He didn't look so angry – a more saddened expression was on his face for some reason.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"This sign", she held it up: the sign indeed said '_I'm a perverted bastard'_ in an almost unintelligible scrawl. Both boys tried not to laugh.

"This is against MY prison code. Take both of these boys to be _punished_", the blonde woman said, with a slight sneer.

Naruto's eyes widened. Now he slightly understood what Sasuke meant about the prison. You do not break the rules because of the trouble it caused.

"Wait!" Naruto said as Kakashi pulled Sasuke out of his bed. He jumped down and stood up to the two unknown individuals, "He didn't do anything – it was just me".

Sasuke looked at Naruto. 'What the hell is that idiot thinking? He doesn't know what the punishment is!' he thought savagely.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, almost glaring – the meaning was clear; _don't intervene_.

"Well, if that is true, let Sasuke go – Naruto come here".

Kakashi grabbed Naruto and pushed him out of the door. Chained up a lot more viciously and more securely than before, Naruto half-smiled at Sasuke as the door slammed, shutting them apart.

Naruto was dragged roughly along corridors, endless doors passed until the scenery started to change. It turned darker and darker as they descended down a stone staircase. Naruto knew they were slowly creeping down underground – this meant a harsh punishment.

Naruto didn't know what to expect.

Naruto was pushed against a wall, and then made to sit down on a small stone; the top part of his uniform removed. He shivered in the cold. The old-looking man turned to the younger looking woman. Kakashi grabbed hold of Naruto's soft blonde hair to make sure he didn't move.

"Do it Jiraiya".

"Yes Tsunade".

"Naruto, you are about to experience what happens to troublemakers in my prison". Tsunade watched as Jiraiya picked up a large whip – it had three separate sections to do three hits simultaneously. Naruto's eyes grew wider as Jiraiya moved closer.

"Five times as he is only a baby", Tsunade commanded. Jiraiya nodded. He hung the whip high and struck down on Naruto's back. It was pain beyond anything he had experienced and Naruto screamed. Tears formed in his eyes but he refused to let them fall as the three hits again connected with his bare skin – the pain burned in to him. Jiraiya repeated it until he had reached the limit Tsunade set. Naruto's back was on fire – his back ached and stung. Jiraiya forcefully pulled the shirt over his back and Naruto winced again. He threw up on the floor – the only way his body would let him respond to the aftermath of the pain. He shivered as he felt the coldness again.

"Naruto – you don't do these things in prison. You have to understand that it is different here", Tsunade's voice actually had a hint of caring mixed with the coldness the prison master possessed, "You broke the law, you took it in to your own hands and killed two people. You may have people who back you, who even protested to get you out of jail. But don't let that get to your head. You have to pay the penalty for what you did. Don't go complicating it by messing around and acting immature. I will bring you back here and you know I went on easy on you today. Remember that".

Naruto touched the welts on his back; the skin felt raw and hurt so badly.

"At least my stupidity didn't get Sasuke in to trouble", he thought.

Naruto was chained up again, the extra chains from before had been taken off, and was dragged back to his room. He desperately wanted to go and lie down.

When Sasuke saw the door open, he saw Naruto looking a little worse for wear than when he left.

"Naruto".

"You waited for me; that was nice of you".

"Naruto".

Kakashi shut the shutter and locked the door.

"Naruto are you okay?" Sasuke asked, accidentally letting slip of the worry he felt. It had been at least an hour since they left.

"Wow, my first day of prison. Kiba was right, it sucks!" Naruto collapsed on to his knees. Sasuke dropped down on to the floor beside him. Naruto didn't look very well.

"Hey dobe, listen, I want to thank you for what you did. I appreciate it. Maybe, maybe I will come clean with you about why I'm here".

"Well… maybe I will too", Naruto replied.

Sasuke helped Naruto up the ladder up on to his bunk.

"Hey Naruto? What did they do to you?"

"I got whipped; it's a whip that's three in one. I got hit five times but fifteen altogether. It fucking hurts like hell!"

Sasuke's mouth gaped open. Naruto probably knew what would happen and he took it anyway. He really was a nice person.

So what drove him to kill two people?

"Naruto, I've been in this prison for some time now. I'll look out for you – I promise".

"Thanks Sasuke. It turns out we might get on as jail mates after all". Naruto's voice sounded sleepy.

"Are you tired Naruto?"

"I haven't slept since the incident – unless you count them knocking me out so I could go to court. Shortest trail in history I think. I can't sleep – not after what I did… I only get nightmares".

Sasuke bit his lip. He must be telling the truth – he himself got nightmares too.

It was ten or so minutes later that Sasuke bid Naruto goodnight and fell to sleep.

- - - - -

Reviews! I love reviews, they make me so happy! xx


	4. Therapy

**This chapter is quite long, sorry but I couldn't be bothered to split it up again. Anyway, have a good read! **

Chapter 2

Sasuke awoke from what felt like half an hour later but was actually the morning. Naruto was sat on the chair, pale and sleepy-looking.

"Did you sleep alright?" Naruto asked.

"Fine, I think. Did you sleep at all?" Sasuke asked, stretching.

"No. Kept myself awake by being as uncomfortable as possible, plus that session yesterday hurts like hell which seemed to help. But I'll crack soon, I know I will".

"Well, at this rate you won't make it through the day".

Naruto looked at Sasuke who tried not to sound concerned. He decided to change the subject.

"Well, today is therapy day!"

"What?!"

"Well, one day of the week, you have to go to separate therapy lessons".

"You mean there is more than one?"

"Yeah. Tsunade tried her hardest to ban all forms of it in this prison but the Government forced her in to it in the end. You might be joining my group session – that is, the murderer's group session. Some of the younger seniors, the ones that have just moved up from the juniors still are in this session as otherwise it's just you and me. Don't worry; I know some of them so it's okay".

"Oh brilliant".

"I detect a hint of sarcasm".

"You ain't wrong".

"Why? Therapy isn't too bad".

"I don't want them digging in to stuff they don't need to know".

"They try to find out why you did what you did".

"And I already know why".

"That's what I thought. But apparently it goes deeper than what you might think".

"Well I just won't co-operate".

"They'll make you, trust me – I know".

"Really?"

"Yeah, really".

"Oh shit".

The door opened and Kakashi looked through. "I have to take you to breakfast and then your therapy sessions".

"Okay then", Sasuke got up and he grabbed Naruto's arm to make him come too".

"But I don't want to go to therapy".

"Well, you have no choice!"

The two were chained again and dragged more forcefully than usual down to the dining room – after all they did prank the guard.

They ate breakfast together – a bowl of nasty porridge oats – and then Kakashi turned up with another guard for Naruto.

Their hands were chained separately.

"See you later", Sasuke called, led off by Kakashi.

Naruto nodded to him and smiled.

"Well, you're going to meet up with your therapist for the first time. She is called Hinata", the unknown guard said. He had brown hair and a scar across his nose, but unlike the other guards, he seemed to have a cheery smile on his face.

"I'm Iruka", he said, answering the blonde's unasked question. "I will be the one shepherding you around to your various therapy sessions".

"Really? Can't you just take me back to my cell? I don't want to go to therapy".

Iruka laughed, not nastily but joyously. It annoyed Naruto but also made him want to join in. He decided on not saying anything.

"Well, I'm sorry Naruto but I have to take you there".

"So what do I have to do?"

"Nothing – it is your choice if you want to talk to her or not. Either way, therapists can be persuasive people".

"I guess you would know".

"Yes, I would know… hey! Are you trying to hint something there?"

"No", Naruto replied smirking.

Iruka just smiled and didn't chastise him for his remark.

"Well anyway, Hinata is a very nice girl – I think you two will get on well, even if you don't want to go in to too deep a detail about yourself. She's just there to help you. Just remember that".

Naruto thought about what Iruka said until they suddenly stopped.

"Well, here we are. I will be waiting outside the door for you. The session is an hour long and then I have to take you to your next one".

"Okay, thanks Iruka".

Naruto opened the door to the office. It was a small room, plain, with nothing but two chairs and a desk. He looked at the girl who occupied the chair behind the desk – she had white eyes and blue-ish hair; rather pale and she was a short and skinny girl. She barely looked older than Naruto. She indicated for him to sit down and she smiled at him. She did seem nice.

"Hello Naruto". Her voice was quite high, but full of kindness and just a hint of shyness.

"Hello Hinata", Naruto answered politely.

"Well, I want to talk to you – really get to know you".

"Well, I don't want to talk about myself".

"Fair enough", she answered which slightly stunned Naruto. "What do you wish to talk about?"

"I don't know, how about films?"

"Okay. Any particular films you like?"

"Action and adventure – mainly ninja films".

Hinata's eyes widened. "I LOVE ninja films".

The entire hour session consisted of the two talking about their favourite films and what the other thought about each genre of film. Naruto had guessed Hinata didn't like gory horror films and was right. She was quite shocked that Naruto didn't like those kinds of films either. The two talked until they heard a tap on the door, indicating that the session was over. There was no clock in the room – maybe to help time skip by.

"Well, that was an enjoyable session Naruto. Maybe next time, we can talk about other things you like – perhaps books or video games", Hinata beamed at him

"Thanks, I'd like that a lot Hinata", he waved and shut the door. He turned to see Iruka.

"Well, how did it go?" he asked as he chained Naruto up again, leading him off to the next session.

"We talked about movies".

"Ahh, she's using that approach", Iruka muttered under his breath.

"Huh, what was that?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing", Iruka replied. "We'd better hurry up a bit; you're already a little late".

They walked in silence along to a slightly larger room than the one before; others were already crowded in there and Naruto saw that Sasuke had saved him a seat.

"Sasuke", he called out as Iruka released the chains and waited outside.

"Naruto, come on, you're late".

"Well, I don't particularly care".

"How was your first session?"

"We talked about films. It wasn't too bad".

"Who do you have?"

"Hinata".

"That's Neji's cousin!"

"Neji's cousin is a prison therapist?"

"Yeah, when he was caught, she wanted to be his therapist but the prison wouldn't allow it due to the family ties".

"That's unfair isn't it?"

"Yeah but not much you can do about it really. We have to shut up now, therapy is starting".

The therapist walked in the room – he was very old and very wise looking, the last remaining patches of hair on his head were bright white and his skin was brown and aged. He looked very happy and content for someone so old.

"Ah! We have a new arrival. Hello, my name is Sarutobi and you are?"

Sasuke elbowed Naruto to get him to answer.

"I'm Naruto".

"Well then, I already know you must have committed murder otherwise you wouldn't be here. So, are you going to share your story?"

"No".

"In your own time then. Well, today I would like to discuss with you people's views on murder. Naruto what is your opinion on murderers?"

Yet again, Sasuke had to elbow Naruto before he would reply.

"No comment".

"Surely you must have some comment? Until only last week, were you not a law abiding member of the public and then you committed double homicide. You must have an opinion".

"I do but it doesn't mean I wish to share it which is my legal right so pick someone else".

"Okay, Yuki, what's your view?" Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at Naruto who crossed his arms and returned his stare with a glare.

"Oi!" Sasuke hissed, "Would you just co-operate? It makes things easier in the long run".

"No!" Naruto hissed back, "I don't want to".

"You're so stubborn. Just stubborn! You're just like me!"

"What?"

"Excuse me you two, someone else is talking. And Naruto, I thought you didn't want to share your opinion with the rest of the group and Sasuke is no different – so unless you want to speak to the entire class the contents of your conversation, please be quiet".

"Well, let me tell you where you can stick that comment…OW!" Naruto rubbed the spot that was getting repeatedly bruised from Sasuke's elbow. Sasuke glared at him but when Sarutobi had turned away from them he smirked and tried not to laugh. Naruto blushed slightly for some reason he didn't know and turned away.

The two didn't speak for the rest of the session or at all the journey to the dining room for lunch.

They were the first of the group to arrive and they sat in silence eating their meal – that was until Sasuke decided to break the silence.

"You know, you're really stubborn!"

"What?!"

"You heard me!"

"No, I mean, why the hell are you telling me this?"

"Because I analysed your character and you are just like me".

"What?!"

"Well, you're stubborn and obstinate and you like attention but don't want to show it; you like a laugh but prefer to be the one people laugh with instead of at, however you are loyal but can be judgemental and you have a similar sarcastic nature to me".

Naruto laughed. Sasuke was taken aback.

"Woah! You sure picked up on me fast. Though I don't like it when you say I attention-seek – it maybe true but just don't spread it around". Naruto smiled, trying not to laugh more at Sasuke's face. Sasuke looked down at his plate to avoid the blonde seeing him blush slightly.

It was then that Kiba turned up; smacking Naruto around the back of the head which made Naruto nearly fall over.

"Woah! Steady there!" Kiba said. "You okay? You seemed quite miffed yesterday. Did Sasuke intimidate you?"

"How could that little teme intimidate me?" Naruto replied smirking at Sasuke's glare.

"Watch it Naruto".

"Or what?"

"Or I'll have to spill the beans".

"What beans? Are we having beans today? Ooh, do we get ramen in prison?"

"What? Ramen? That stuff is bad for you".

"I love that stuff".

"Yeah, I quite like it as well", Kiba interjected.

"It's the best tasting stuff in the world!"

"I thought someone as idiotic as you would like something so fattening".

"What? You've only known me a day! You can't go spouting nonsense".

The two boys argued throughout the rest of the lunch period – barely noticing when the others arrived and started talking about them.

"Sasuke likes him – no mistaking it", Kiba whispered.

"Yeah we all know that prison turned Sasuke gay but does Naruto?" Shikamaru asked his voice also low.

"Maybe Naruto can help Sasuke out? Help him through all the crap he's been through and not told us about?" Shino suggested.

"Yeah maybe he can help us as well – you know through our troubles as well. We should return the favour – guy like that doesn't deserve to be in jail", Lee said.

There was a nodding of agreement. The other two boys were still arguing even when Kakashi came over to take Sasuke away.

"Well, I guess I'll continue this with you later Naruto. I don't have any more sessions today. Enjoy yours".

"What?"

"Well, you have another session – enjoy it, I know how much you enjoy therapy".

"You teme!"

Sasuke laughed at him and was dragged away by Kakashi. Naruto waited for Iruka to come over and take him away – watching as all the others were taken off separately as well.

"Well, last session of the day. This one is slightly longer than the others but non-compulsory after a certain number of sessions. It's a religious theme –"

"NO!"

Iruka looked at Naruto questioningly. "What's wrong?"

"I don't do anything religious – I am a strict atheist and have no need for religion. Sorry".

"Well, I have to say sorry as I have to take you there. The first sessions are compulsory".

"Is there really any point in taking me there? it's stupid, I don't want to take part".

"Hey! Your freedom is restricted now remember – your in prison, you have to do what you are told". Iruka was getting stern and Naruto just rolled his eyes.

"We're here now", Iruka said.

Naruto groaned as they reached it – Iruka pushed him through the door. Naruto fell through the door and in to an area that looked very strange. There was a section of people kneeling and praying and several other sections – some were talking, some just looked outright bored. Naruto raised his eyebrow at each group before he was approached by a very strange man wearing all green with enormous eyebrows. He flounced over and yelled in Naruto's ear. "Beautiful, beautiful, well hello young fellow. You coming to join in the spiritual–", he did some kind of freaky dance, finishing in a very strange pose, "–meeting?"

"I have to. Believe it or not, I'm in prison. I'm being held against my will".

"Well, come, come, join in. Mingle with this crowd of divine members".

"Members?"

The over-the-top man ignored him and pranced off to see some other people. Naruto spotted Lee, looking very enthusiastic, beckoning him over. He also saw a very sour looking pair of brothers, Gaara and Kankuro, with him. Naruto walked over and sat down next to them.

"Isn't Gai amazing?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, sure", Naruto replied sarcastically, giving the two brothers a look that meant 'hell no!' The brothers smirked as Lee went to go and talk to his idol.

"Ignore him", Gaara said.

"How come you're here? Still compulsory for you?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah but not for long. We have about 10 more sessions and then we are so out of here", Kankuro answered.

"You go everywhere together? Are you close?"

"Yeah, I mean, we're criminal partners", Kankuro replied.

"And we didn't sell each other out when we got caught", Gaara continued.

"Actually, we both tried to sell out our other partner", Kankuro laughed.

"Wow, you really must be close brothers. Have you got any other siblings?"

"Yeah, we have our sister Temari – she visits several times a week".

"I'm guessing you guys share a cell?"

"Oh yeah! We have each other's back. I guess that's the bonus of going in to prison with your brother", Kankuro grinned.

"How many sessions have you already had of this then?"

"Too many. Well, one was too many", Gaara answered.

"Yeah, this is so boring. A complete waste of time. How many you have depends on the situation you're in. you could have one a week or one every day. We have one once a week. Lee has them every day but he's past it being compulsory. He enjoys it here for some reason and he's the only one out of the group that has continued with it. He's good friends with the runner of the class", Kankuro explained.

"Hey do you guys still have to go to therapy then? Do you go together?"

"Well, we're split apart for individual but we have a paired session too. People who do crimes with partners who are in the same prison have to have a therapy session together".

"This is one hell of a strange prison".

"Well, Tsunade likes to keep things based on fear and punishment – the whips if you step out of line", – Naruto shifted uncomfortably – "and the other torturous methods she keeps down in that basement room. But no one we know as gone past the whipping. We haven't stepped out of line – Kiba did and he told us what happened; showed us the marks".

"You mean marks like this?" Naruto lifted the back of his uniform top to show the brothers what had been done to hi the previous night – the welts were clear in his skin. He heard Gaara and Kankuro hiss at them.

"You've only been here a day, what did you do?"

"Pulled a prank of Kakashi-officer. It was funny at the time but those whips hurt like hell. It'll be a while before I get myself in to trouble again".

"What?!" the brothers looked dumbstruck at what they heard; "You're planning to get in to trouble again?"

"I can't help it – it's a condition. I have to create a certain amount of chaos in my life. It's a really long complicated syndrome. I was diagnosed when I was six after I broke a very expensive glass chandelier at a cousin's house just because I wanted to know if it could take my weight. I got my scars that way", Naruto pointed to the scars that lined his face like whiskers. Gaara and Kankuro turned to look at each other.

"Well, it looks like a complete idiot with balls has joined our group. It's nice to have you here".

"Anyway, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Kankuro asked.

Naruto visibly paled at the question. He shut his eyes and nodded his head slightly. He took in a deep breath and then opened his eyes to see Gaara and Kankuro look a little strange.

"Two brothers, one older and one younger, two sisters, both younger and then I have a pair of identical twin sisters too".

"Woah, big family then?"

"Yeah, used to be", Naruto whispered. He didn't know or care if they caught what he said. He was lost in the thoughts about his family.

It was then that Gai came over to 'spiritual enlighten' them through exercise. Naruto went along with what the strange man was telling them to do so Gaara and Kankuro didn't have a chance to ask him about his family again.

However, he was starting to think it was a bad idea. His lack of sleep meant he had no energy to keep up with the routine. He tried his best to not overexert himself but as the routine got faster and harder, Naruto felt himself become dizzier and he stopped. Gai said something to him but he couldn't hear him – everything went dark.

Next thing Naruto knew he was lying on something soft and fluffy – quite unlike anything else he had seen in prison so far. He opened his eyes wide and relaxed them to try to get used to the light. He then turned his head slightly to see a pink-haired girl in a white dress sat at a desk writing a report. Naruto tried to get a better look at her when she turned around to see him.

"Hello Naruto", she smiled.

"What am I doing here?"

"You collapsed in your therapy session – must have been quite a funny sight", she giggled slightly. "And, it's evident to anyone that you aren't sleeping. I'm prescribing you some tablets to take to help. Your officer on duty will distribute them to you every night before you go to bed. You can't avoid sleep too long – I'm amazed you lasted this long before fainting from exhaustion".

"So am I going back to therapy or to my cell now?"

"Well, you've only been here half an hour so your session is still running. You can either rest here a bit longer if you want to skip it and have a chat with me whilst I fill in my report on you or you can go back to the therapy session. Don't worry – I won't tell". She winked at Naruto who slowly sat up.

"I'm Sakura", she held out her hand, "Pleased to meet you".

"Really? You're not scared I'm going to jump on you or anything?"

"No. I know why you're in jail so don't worry. Unless you have a plan to jump me or something".

Naruto smiled. "No, I haven't. As for the pills, I doubt anything you give me will help me to sleep soundly – enough to make me sleep all night without waking up".

"But you need to sleep".

"I don't: I don't deserve to sleep soundly after what I did".

"At least you admit that you did something wrong. If you continued to believe you were right for doing what you did, you will never be able to recover from it".

"I don't want to though".

"Everyone deserves a second chance, Naruto. Even the most hardened serial killers. You aren't a serial killer – you have remorse for what you did".

"But…!"

"Don't protest. Forgive yourself Naruto: or you may never be able to leave this place and see your family".

"You are turning this in to a therapy session you know that?"

"Well I am a qualified therapist as well a medical doctor here – I was going to come and see you in your next session with your individual therapist".

"What?! Why didn't you tell me? I wasn't going supposed to talk to any therapists".

"Well, all therapists have their own methods of getting their patients to open up to them. Who is your individual therapist?"

"Hinata".

Oh well, you have the best combo there is me! Hinata and I are the only females in this job and we are the most qualified".

"I should be happy that I have you two?"

"Well, at least you don't have any of the male therapists. Gai, to me, needs therapy himself".

"Too right", Naruto muttered.

"Well I guess we'll call that the end than shall we. You should be able to get away with going back to your cell now. Go back and talk to your cell mate, he seemed worried when he was told".

Naruto thought about Sasuke and smirked slightly – so the bastard actually had feelings.

Naruto thanked Sakura and left for his cell, with Iruka.

Sasuke saw the door of the cell open and Naruto came in. he said goodbye to Iruka and then turned to smirk at Sasuke.

"You were worried?"

"No".

"Sakura said you were".

"Damn stupid bitch", Sasuke muttered.

"Well, you said it, not her", Naruto replied, climbing on to his bunk. Sasuke stood up and looked up at him.

"So what happened? Gaara and Kankuro weren't very specific with the details and Lee is so far up Gai's butt it's unbelievable. Still he's lucky, he leaves soon".

"Really?"

"Yeah, in about a month – he's been transferred from a lot of prisons so I don't remember how long he's been in prison but he's been here for almost a year".

"Wow".

"Not really".

"Teme, you should care more for him he's your friend".

"Dobe, I already care for him, I just don't have to remember everything about him".

Naruto told Sasuke all about the tablets and the sleeping problem and Sakura being slightly annoying. Sasuke smirked and agreed.

"So, what do you think of therapy?"

"Individual is fine, Group is crap and I hate it and the Religious thingamajig was just strange, not too bad, just very strange".

"Aww!"

"What?"

"You hate being with me!"

"That's not what I meant".

"So you LIKE being with me?"

"Shut up you!" Naruto turned red embarrassed.

"Teme".

"Dobe".

"Oh! You are so annoying!" Naruto turned away from him in a huff. Sasuke danced slightly in silent delight, looking at the blonde who refused to look back.

- - - - -

Reviews please! Thankies… xx


	5. A Letter, a Picture and a Fight

**I am SO incredibly sorry it has taken me so long to update. I have had some major trouble with this story – my notes mysteriously vanished and I had to get them all together again. The amount of notes I have on this story is unbelievable. Much more of this is on scrap paper from writing at school and at work than on my computer. It takes forever to type up. But luckily I have located my notes; my sister thought it would be funny to hide them. Not really ¬¬ I just have to thank God that she didn't read them! **

**I also have another major problem with all my stories really. I have lost so much sleep and spare time recently as I have just started my AS levels. Much harder than GCSE's by far! But hopefully the work load will subside soon so I can get on with my writing. I don't think my school would be particularly pleased if I asked them to put the work on hold so I can update my fanfics :P**

**Anywho, I give you the latest chapter of Jail Mate. Enjoy :) **

Chapter 3

_Naruto sat with two small girls on his lap – they were about six years old and identical to the last eyelash; long blonde hair with the same blue eyes as Naruto's. The three were sat in a very comfy beige brown sofa, giggling at a story book Naruto was reading aloud to them. They were having fun together when a young boy, just a couple of years older than the twins Naruto was with approached them; holding a small blanket and sucking his thumb, he stood there not asking the question he wanted. Naruto understood easily and patted the space next to him and smiled. The little boy grinned widely and jumped up on the sofa, cuddling up to Naruto. They continued the story, Naruto reading aloud, pulling funny faces and using different accents for each character. The young children were giggling when two adolescent girls banged their way through the living room. They were yelling at each other over personal possessions and about respecting the others privacy – the older had longer blonde hair whilst the younger of the two had short blonde hair – both possessing the same sparkling blue eyes. It was then that an older man with a calm expression on his face calmed them both down in his own special way, whilst gently nursing a young girl in his arms and after the little baby had gotten to sleep, the two parents joined them, the whole Uzumaki family sat down together to watch a family film. _

Naruto woke up to see Sasuke shaking him.

"Naruto! Naruto, are you okay?"

"What?"

"Well this is the first time you've fallen asleep soundly without the tablets – but you've been muttering for ages now, I had to wake you up".

"What was I saying?" Naruto asked, slightly worried.

"Well, you kept apologising – saying sorry over and over – and you were mentioning a few names I didn't quite pick up on". Sasuke looked at Naruto slightly concerned as Naruto didn't respond to what he had said and his expression went blank. After several minutes of silence, Naruto seemed to pull himself together.

"Sorry Sasuke, I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, it's alright – I was already awake. I didn't want to wake you up though. You need to catch up on your sleep. First month or two of prison isn't easy getting used to". Sasuke moved away from the bunk, climbing down out of sight.

"Well, I may go back to Dreamland if it'll let me", Naruto said, turning to face the wall, away from Sasuke.

There was a knock on the door and the turning of locks.

"Well, on second thought", he said sighing, climbing down the ladder and dropping to the floor besides Sasuke.

"Hey Naruto, what are those cuts on your hands?" Sasuke asked, pointing to several mini almost unnoticeable cuts on the palms of Naruto's hands.

"Oh these? I don't know where they came from. A mystery really". Naruto smiled quirkily.

Kakashi opened the door and grunted in greeting to them as they did the usual routine.

"Oh, Uzumaki, I have a letter for you addressed from an Izumi", he said gruffly and uncaring. "You can open it at breakfast. I will be taking the envelope away from you but you may keep the letter in your cell if you wish". Kakashi stopped talking and Sasuke looked puzzled at the excited Naruto.

Naruto could barely contain his excitement and as soon as Naruto had collected his food, he placed it on their usual table and raced to Kakashi to collect his letter. Kakashi handed the letter over after he had opened and taken the envelope away.

Naruto raced back to the table and sat with a silent and confused Sasuke as he read the letter twice through.

_Dear Naruto, _

_I am coming to see you shortly, I know it's been a while since I've seen you and I know you need someone at this point but I've been so out of touch, all the preparations to make and all the stress I've been under. I know you have had your own hardships – I don't doubt that for a second – I mean, your in prison fo God's sake over something I never could have done though I so wanted to. I will come and visit soon I promise. Not much information at this current moment in time though I bet some things will have changed by the time you receive this. I hope you are not getting hurt in prison and I wish you the best of luck for what you did and I'm so sorry. _

_Love Izumi x_

Naruto smiled at the letter and folded it up. He placed it next to him and sighed slightly. He started playing with his food rather than actually eating it, causing Sasuke to worry slightly about the contents of the letter though he didn't want to ask.

"You can just ask you know; I won't bite your head off". Naruto looked up at Sasuke and smiled slightly.

Sasuke coughed softly. "Wh-who was the letter from then?" he asked.

"It was from Izumi – my older brother", he answered flatly.

"O-older brother?"

"Yeah. Izumi's my only older brother".

"You've got other siblings?"

"Yes, I'm the second oldest of the family. I have one older brother, a younger brother, two sisters and then a set of identical twin girls. I'm also an uncle of a little one year old of Izumi's – his fiancé died giving birth to her". Naruto looked really upset all of a sudden – on the verge of tears. He continued to play with his cereal, spooning it around and around the bowl, not feeling very hungry. Naruto averted Sasuke's eyes until he was positive he wasn't about to cry his heart out.

"So what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you have any siblings?"

"I had an older brother", Sasuke said after several minutes.

"Oh, what happened?"

"He died".

"Oh I'm sorry", Naruto looked genuinely upset on hearing the news.

"Well, it was over a year ago now. Anyway, what about the letter then, good news or bad from home?"

Naruto's face dropped slightly and bit his lip. "Well, not much news really except that he's coming to visit me soon".

"What about your parents?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke – his eyes widened and he stammered slightly, "I...I h-have to g-go now".

Naruto left his breakfast and ran from the table, grabbing his letter. He ran to Kakashi and he left.

Sasuke looked to where he was and was about to run after him when the rest of the gang arrived.

"Just leave him, he'll be okay", Shino whispered in his ear. Sasuke looked to Shino and gave him a puzzled look. Shino just stared at him until it started to creep Sasuke out.

Sasuke sat and didn't seem to eat anymore of his food. He was focused on the scared look in Naruto's eyes when he mentioned his parents. He ran away like that. Naruto said he had killed two people...were they his...?

Naruto had run away fairly quickly.

"Sasuke?" Kiba asked, his voice seemed far away.

"Yeah", he eventually replied. He turned to look at Kiba who was looking at him oddly.

"Sasuke...are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine", Sasuke answered, not looking at him.

"No your not".

"I said I'm fine!"

"Sasuke?"

_Sasuke was sat in his room – it was cold and dark. He hid under his covers, the duvet almost as cold as he was. He waited. He waited longer. The sounds of footsteps up the stairs made Sasuke's heart beat faster and faster. Sasuke waited for the torture to begin. His parents had just left the house and put HIM in charge as always – the regular. He was alone with him with no one to save him. _

_What was he going to do this time?_

_Sasuke remained under his covers and he continued to wait. _

_He walked in the door, sneering as usual. Sasuke held his breath. The covers were ripped from him._

"_Well what fun are we going to get up to tonight then Sasuke?"_

_Sasuke closed his eyes to make him go away, opening them to see he had remained in front of him. He stammered, "N-no, I d-don't w-want to". _

"_You don't have much of a choice here. It's what __**I **__want that counts". _

"_Please, please", Sasuke begged. _

"_Sasuke, come on, now be a good boy and do what I say". _

"SASUKE!"

"Huh, what?"

"Hello? Come on man, your in a daze – snap out of it!" Kiba said, shaking Sasuke slightly and then letting go when he remembered what crime Sasuke was in prison for. He coughed slightly and patted Sasuke on the back comfortingly.

"I'm alright. I'm alright; sorry, just lost it".

"Well as we were saying, Lee's leaving soon and we have to find out a way to get him a leaving present. Neji is asking Tenten today if there is something she can get from the store when they meet up later. Any ideas anyone?"

"I need to find Naruto", Sasuke said, making to get up.

"Aww, come on, stay and bounce a few ideas with us for ten minutes or so before you do. He'll be fine, he's not in danger or anything", Kiba smiled.

"Just for a little bit Sasuke", Shikamaru said.

The group all stared; Lee was in therapy so he only had some time before he came to breakfast.

"Fine, I'll wait around for a minute".

Sasuke sat down; the group all huddled around him so he couldn't escape too easily. They began to discuss the leaving present. Sasuke could hear all the ideas they suggested but he couldn't hear them at the same time. He wasn't concentrating on them; he just felt the need to seek out Naruto to ask him why he ran out at breakfast – he hoped it didn't have anything to do with what he was thinking. Naruto couldn't have killed his parents could he?

He tried his hardest to shake it off and in the end, the first idea that he suggested turned out to be the one everyone agreed was best. Sasuke thought that Lee would appreciate a green belt that was similar to Gai's. Lee talked about him – sometimes a little too much.

After they had all decided on the gift, Sasuke rushed to find one of the guards to take him back to his room. Kakashi wasn't back so he must have still been with Naruto. He decided to go back to the cell and wait there.

Meanwhile Naruto was wondering around with Kakashi.

"Kakashi-officer is there a place I can sit and rest without going back to the cell. I kind of want to sit and be by myself".

"Well, Uzumaki, you can go to the exercise room. That place was designed for the seniors but seeing as you are a murderer I think you'll be fine. The juniors exercise in the courtyard usually but the tarmac is being redone so they are in here at the moment". Kakashi answered, without a hint of emotion in his voice. Naruto ignored Kakashi and was just happy he didn't have to go back to the cell. He knew Sasuke didn't mean anything by it – he was curious, after all they were talking about family but his family were... he shook it from his mind and continued along the corridor with Kakashi until they reached a fairly large room, with large open spaces for exercise and several different machines. However there weren't any weights as Naruto knew they were potential deadly weapons in fights. Although there weren't many people in there, Naruto's heart sped up slightly. These were the seniors that Sasuke warned him about.

Naruto looked around at them all; none of them paid any particular attention to him. The majority were in their late twenties and early thirties – there didn't seem to be that many rather old offenders in the prison. Two in particular seemed to catch Naruto's attention. One had long blonde hair that seemed almost girlish in style; he seemed to be sniggering at something next to the prisoner next to him. He was pale with short red hair and he was staring at Naruto. Naruto seemed slightly unnerved. He walked over to an unoccupied machine that unfortunately was close to where the pair stood.

As Naruto started working out on the machine, he started to hear fragments of the conversation that the two older offenders were talking about.

"Remember the plan?"

"Go through it again Sasori, you know I can't concentrate on other people when I'm styling my hair", the blonde one answered.

_He actually styles his hair like that? _Naruto thought disbelievingly.

"Well, you idiot, we are going to get that Uchiha kid".

"The high junior ranker?"

"Yeah. We have to show him up. Bring him down from his high horse. After all he is the top dog in the juniors and we can't have that when he moves on up to the seniors can we? Remember that's what we are".

"Well, that's true but we can't get to him at all can we? Only place is dining room and they watch us like hawks there because of all the segregation between the different ages".

Naruto listened in horror as the two seniors talked about and described different aspects of the plan to each other, the plan to get Sasuke. Naruto wasn't going to have it.

"Hey!"

The two individuals turned and stared at Naruto as he got off the machine and walked up to them.

"What are you going to do junior?" the red head Sasori asked.

"What are you planning to do to Uchiha? You got to remember he's a murderer". Naruto stared coldly at them.

"So? We're not exactly your average friendly criminals either punk. We're gang members. Ever heard of the Akatsuki?"

Naruto had indeed heard of them – the gang was famous for its control over the drug business. He guessed that's how they managed to get Shikamaru and Shino in jail. Naruto continued to stare at the two gang members as they smirked at him.

"Don't particularly care to be honest. How can you underestimate an Uchiha?"

"Easily, we knew the Uchiha's brother", the blonde said, flicking his hair and leaning against the red head.

"Yeah but they are very different".

"Like we care? Why do you care anyway? What are you trying to do?"

Naruto stood there in silent, taking a step back from the two seniors. What was he doing?

"Well I want to know why you're after the Uchiha when I'm the number one junior here. Uchiha's only killed one person, I've killed two". Naruto stood straight, cold eyes staring at the pair.

"Well, is that true?"

"Yeah, it is. Why would I lie?"

"Because it can get you in to trouble".

"Well, I'm not". Naruto stared unblinking in to Sasori's eyes.

"Well, alright I believe you".

The two stared at Naruto with a nasty look on their faces. Naruto turned to see the officers looking away, arguing. Naruto turned back to the seniors who were looking very malicious.

Sasuke sat down in his cell. As Kakashi wasn't there to take him back from breakfast he was taken back by Iruka who looked at him oddly, almost accusingly that he wasn't taking Naruto back. Kakashi had taken Naruto off and they weren't back yet. Where had they gone? There weren't many places you could take a murderer in jail.

After several minutes of wondering, he climbed up to Naruto's bunk to look for anything that tied to the uneasiness that filled Sasuke's mind. He checked through his covers and slipped his hand between his pillows. His hand clasped something; something rather small and hard. He pulled it out and dropped it immediately in pain. It was a photo frame, the glass was broken on it but some sharp parts remained and it had cut Sasuke. Explained the cuts on Naruto's hands. Sasuke looked at the photo inside.

It was his family.

Sasuke stared at each face in the photo. Naruto wasn't wrong when he mentioned he had a big family. Sasuke's finger traced and found Naruto in the middle, sat down on a chair, with two identical twin girls on his lap. Naruto looked so happy there, hugging both of the girls. On either side of Naruto, stood up, smiling at the camera were two girls one older and one younger – both teenagers. The one on the left of the picture, the older sister, looked familiar to Sasuke but he couldn't place her face. They both had the same colour hair and eyes as Naruto, both had his smile. Sat on the floor at Naruto's feet was a small young boy. He beamed at the camera in front of him – he had the same hairstyle as Naruto, all over the place. To the right of Naruto, were a young couple – Sasuke guessed was Naruto's only older sibling Izumi. He had his arms around the stomach of his fiancée, who Naruto explained had died giving birth to their daughter. She was pregnant in the picture – did she know she wasn't going to make it to see her daughter grow up? She didn't look extremely healthy in the picture but she looked happy. It was that kind of happiness that made you glow. Sasuke smiled looking at her face – she looked different to the rest of the Uzumaki family. She had long dark brown hair, almost black. But she had the trademark sparkling eyes of the Uzumakis. Izumi also looked ecstatic in the picture, hugging his fiancée, his love for her clearly showing. He had a bright green baseball cap, turned to the side and the Uzumaki eyes but you could see the ends of his spiky blonde hair poking out from under the cap. He looked like a big kid. To the other side of the picture was another couple. These were Naruto's parents – but they didn't look like your average parents. The dad was giving his mum a piggyback ride and they were smiling and giggling away. Both had messy blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes.

_Christ, they're young! _Sasuke thought.

Sasuke looked at every one of the happy faces in the photo and realised that that once happy family was now broken. Naruto was in prison, the fiancée was dead leaving a young man to be a single father and Sasuke didn't know what had become of the rest of them, Naruto refused to speak of his parents. Had he really killed them? Sasuke took particularly attention to Izumi, the sender of the letter. He knew he was alive at least.

Sasuke continued to stare at the picture for a long time before replacing it. He sucked the blood from his finger and tidied the bed to make it look like it hadn't been disturbed. He jumped down and reclined on his own bunk. He thought of Naruto's family. Then he thought of his own.

_Sasuke carefully crawled down the stairs and listened at the living room door. The raised voices had awoken the small boy from his sleep. He hoped to figure out the source for the noise. _

"_What is it with you? Why are you failing your tests? We know you can do it, so why are you failing? Are you doing it deliberately? You're smart; you have the potential to do great things! Why are you throwing away the chance away?" _

"_Your father knows what he is talking about. You have the capability so why don't you put it to use? We know this is a stressful time of the year for you but you need to buckle down or we're going to have to resort to punishments, restricting your leisure and social time". _

"_We're going to stop you hanging around with these hooligans you call your friends!" the man's voice was stern and raising in decibels. _

_Sasuke flinched slightly as the voices got louder and the arguing continued. Sasuke sat huddled against the stairs opposite the door, almost crying. He hated arguments, he hated fights. He wanted it to stop. There were too many arguments like this these days. _

_It was then that the door to the living room opened and he watched his brother march past, ignoring him completely. Sasuke wanted to call to him but his voice had gone. His parents spotted him. His father was about to speak before his mother cut across. _

"_Sasuke sweetie, what are you doing down here? Come on mummy will take you back to bed. We're sorry we woke you". His mother reached out her hand to him and he reached to grasp it. _

"UCHIHA!"

Sasuke snapped back yet again in to reality and saw Kakashi stood next to the bunk, head bent slightly so he could look at the disgruntled Uchiha.

"Dinnertime, come on".

"Where's Naruto?"

"Uzumaki won't be back in this cell for a while".

"What? Why?"

""Uzumaki got in to some trouble...with the seniors".

- - - - -

Well, reviews would be welcome... thanks to all the readers xx


	6. Opening Up

It always takes me ages to update this, I'm so sorry. :'( Work, work and more work is using up all my time! But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and hope it was worth the wait! :) xx

**Chapter 4**

**Naruto slowly opened one eye and then the other. He could see nothing but the brightest white light and just as soon as his vision had cleared and became more focused, he started to spot familiar objects; he saw the bedside table next to him, clear of litter except for a small bedside lamp that looked as though it had not been used in years; the picture on the wall of the small boat sailing out to sea opposite the bed; the propeller on the ceiling of the room, as it spun, his stomach started to surge and heave. It was then that he felt the pain; his stomach tautened and he felt the bruising pinch his skin, hurting him, tears welling up in his eyes. He could feel the twinges of pain and stiffness of his arms and legs as he attempted to move them. As he flexed the fingers of his right hand, he felt a warm liquid slowly trickle down it. He turned to see his hand covered in a bandage, but the blood was seeping through. **

**He sat up quickly and coughed across the bed, staining the sheets with specs of red. He was forced back by a soft hand; a gentle voice soothed him, handing Naruto a cup of water. He slowly sipped the cold liquid, spluttering slightly as his teeth chattered against the small sharp cubes of ice. He turned and saw a smiling face; soft pink hair fell against her cheeks as Sakura asked how he was feeling. **

"**I...I think I'm...not alright", he finished weakly, feeling his sore ribs. **

"**Stop touching them", she said sternly, "You caused quite a stir in the exercise room you know. You have to be glad you're not fatally injured or injured that severely. You'll be up and about in no time. However, so will your opponents", Sakura sounded rather annoyed, as though she was wishing they were in a worse condition; her job as the prison nurse meant she wasn't supposed to be biased. Naruto smiled slightly. He continued to sip the water as his memories of the incident began to unfurl and the events in the senior exercise room became clear in his mind. **

**With his eyes closed, holding the cold glass cup in both hands, the surroundings in his mind blurred until he found the memory sequence he wanted. **

_**Naruto managed to dodge the first advance but not the second, falling back but managing to flip upright though it was executed awkwardly. He was punched hard in the stomach, though managing to kick the red head Sasori in the leg. He clutched it angrily; his eyes staring at Naruto, looking slightly distant. Naruto dodged both of Deidara's attacks, attacking back and managing to knock the girly-looking blonde character to the floor. **_

_**As good as Naruto had always been at self defence, Naruto was still on the losing side in the two-against-one fight, because of his condition and the fact that the two Akatsuki gang members were no amateurs. Naruto was suffering but managing to defend himself quite well under the circumstances, even counter attack. Naruto's stamina, however, far exceeded that of the two seniors – Naruto could feel their attacks losing power and speed; he took the advantage and pressed harder on them. It was then that other prisoners would crowding around, watching, yelling, some even betting on the minor belongings that they possessed. Naruto was wondering where the officers were – were they stupid enough to not realise what was going on? Naruto was surprised that the fight had accumulated quite a crowd in such a short space of time.**_

_**Naruto ducked as Deidara charged at him, causing the blonde to topple over his back, Naruto grabbed the fist of the redhead and twisted hard. He kicked backwards as Deidara tried to grab his foot. He flipped Sasori over and on top of Deidara; at the same time Deidara pulled on his foot and yanked him to the floor. Naruto kicked out as Deidara refused to let go of his foot, giving Sasori the chance to get up and start kicking Naruto in the side. Naruto was in a lot of pain at this point, he couldn't move, and he was getting the shit kicked in to him. He twisted over and surprised the redhead, getting up and landing a stinging kick to his face. As Deidara tried to get up, he began to kick him. Sasori had recovered and grabbed hold of Naruto's neck from behind, jumping on his back – Naruto had still not given up on kicking his partner. **_

_**The commotion was large now, some of the prisoners were shouting to others out of the small window. It was then that the guards finally arrived to stop it. Using force, some of the lesser officers pushed away the crowd and Asuma knocked out Sasori, who immediately fell to the floor. Deidara was already out on the floor from Naruto's kick to the head and as Naruto began to collapse, he felt an excruciating blow to the back of his head, watching as he approached the floor and blacked out.**_

**Naruto shivered slightly, placing the empty glass of water on the bedside table and turning to look at the concerned Sakura sat next to his bed – he rubbed his head experimentally and realised it didn't hurt as much as he thought. **

"**Do you want to talk to me?"**

"**Not really", he muttered. **

**Sakura got up, refilled the cup and sat back down, handing it back to him with a look on her face. **

"**Please can you talk to me? I'm intrigued; you have come to me twice in the past few weeks – that's more than I see of any of the prisoners. You aren't a bad person; I just wish I knew more about you", Sakura said, slightly smiling at the blonde boy in the bed. **

"**Not much to tell really. I'm eighteen and in prison; my life is over. That's it". **

"**That's not it at all". **

"**Okay, so how am I ever going to get through life knowing that I have killed two people?"**

**He looked to see Sakura bite her lip slightly, chewing gently as she tried to find an answer. **

"**See? I'm never going to get out of here, I'll never see my siblings grow up, I'll never have a family of my own, I won't be able to experience everything I wanted to. I've ruined my chances of a good life – the life my parents had and I dreamed of. Instead I'm stuck in a place that restricts everything in life". **

"**Yes, that last part is true maybe, but you will be able to see your family again; in fact I'm positive you will". **

"**Do you even know what's going on with my family? I don't know if they are alive or not!" **

**Sakura began to bite her lip again – she could see the blonde boy getting agitated and worked up about everything that had happened that landed him in prison in the first place. **

"**It's all my fault – I'm going to have to pay the price for my family getting torn up".**

_**But it's true, if it weren't for my parent's... I wouldn't be in here. **_

**Naruto watched Sakura as she tried to put the puzzles together. **

"**Come on, you've read my file haven't you? You know what I've done". **

"**Yes I have". **

"**So, what? You know I won't be able to get out of here for a long time". **

"**Well, I know you have people here who care as well as people on the outside". **

"**Who in prison could possibly care for me?"**

"**Iruka-officer cares about you, I care about you and your room mate Sasuke". **

"**Why would Sasuke care for me?"**

"**He knows you took on the fight for his sake". **

"**How would he know that?"**

"**He knows what happened. You did it to protect him didn't you? Just like with the whippings – he told me all about that as well". **

"**Yeah but that really was my fault – I couldn't let him be punished for something I goaded him in to. And I didn't fight those two seniors for him! I did it because..." **

_**Hold on, didn't I do it to stop them getting him? But why would I do that? **_

"**Sasuke figured it out for himself, especially after he got told the story by one of the other seniors who was nearby". **

"**How do you know all of this?"**

"**Sasuke has been let out of his cell to come and see you". **

"**When?"**

"**Yesterday". **

"**So how long have I been in here?"**

"**About three days, you're much more resilient than the two who you fought against. They're still out cold". **

"**Good job too", he muttered. **

"**But Naruto, it's okay – it's not a bad thing to care for him, I mean, you spend more time with him than anyone else. Well, as long as you're here, you'll be with him right? It's best to make a friend out of your jail mate than an enemy". **

**Naruto sat there and thought long and hard about what Sakura said – Sasuke was a friend of his wasn't he? I mean, he wasn't anything more, was he? Why did he feel the need to protect him? Was there something else going on here? **

"**Anyway, you haven't eaten anything in a while so why don't you help yourself to some food I prepared. It's much nicer than the food you get in the dining hall so think yourself lucky that you're up to eat it", she giggled. As she began to prepare him a plate of food, Naruto nursed his hand as it began to throb uncomfortably. He was still thinking about what Sakura was talking about – it really was strange now that he thought about it. Why had he protected him? It wasn't like Sasuke was a baby, he had killed someone. **

**Naruto sat and ate the food with Sakura who tried everything she could to try and open him up. She sighed; he smiled – it was the same kind of smile that Hinata gave him when she gave up trying to get him to talk. But being in such a big family meant that you had to put other people before you – especially if you were one of the oldest. **

**Naruto began to think about Izumi – it had been so long since he had seen him and he missed him so much. He couldn't wait for his visit – it would at least give him some piece of mind. **

"**Hey Sakura?"**

"**Yes?"**

"**Can I talk to you about my brother Izumi?" **

"**Of course". **

"**I'm worried about him". **

"**Well, he's your older brother isn't he? He's resilient, he'll pull through". **

"**Yeah but he's trying to organise my family and me and his daughter. I need to help him, I want to help him, I need to get out of here to help him. Is there anything in the law that can help him out? And no way in HELL is he giving up his daughter. I will NOT let him do that". **

"**Well, I can bring in a friend of mine to ask. Is that okay? My area of expertise is medicine, not the law unfortunately", Sakura said. She had taken a bandage out of the cupboard and was cutting it up to fit Naruto's hand. As she did, Naruto began to open up more about Izumi and how he was so worried about him. **

"**I think he's taken on way too much – I want to help him". **

"**Understandable really Naruto. But you really need to concentrate on yourself as well. Getting in to fights is not acceptable in prison and Tsunade is coming down to talk to you again. As you're in here, she feels you don't need any more physical punishment but she wants to talk to you for a bit. She's on her way now", Sakura pinned the bandage up and smiled at Naruto who gave her a small smile back. **

"**Well, while you're talking to her, I'll call my friend and see if there is anything I can do". **

"**Okay, thanks Sakura". Naruto smiled properly. **

**Naruto was finishing his food as Tsunade arrived – Jiraiya was with her. She shooed him away and Sakura smiled at Naruto and walked off to talk to her friend. Tsunade sat next to Naruto for a few seconds pondering what she was going to say, her usually hard eyes were soft and her fluffy blonde hair seemed slightly lighter since he last saw her. **

"**Well, here I am talking to you again about your behaviour", she spoke at last. **

"**Firstly, they started it; I was just defending myself so you have no reason to punish me again-"**

"**Naruto I understand that, I'm sorry you were put through that", she smiled sadly at him. Naruto saw some compassion in the prison manager's eyes. **

"**I realise you haven't been well since you've been put in here, and you brought that whipping on to yourself so you can't blame me for that but this time I realise it's not your fault – my guards are just incompetent so I will certainly be punishing them for having not stopped the fight sooner. And I will also be having words with Sasori and Deidara for what they did too. I just wanted to let you know that this isn't your fault". **

"**Well, I'm glad you understand. I know I'm not well, I'm upset about what's happened and I'm worried about my family". **

"**I know, I know, I get that this whole affair must be hurting you. I'm sorry for what happened but just be glad you weren't killed for your crime. Death is usually the punishment for those who take life – unless you have exceptional circumstance". **

"**Wait, does that mean Sasuke had exceptional circumstances for when he killed someone?"**

"**Yes. If he hasn't told you, it's not my place to say, but I heard you diverted their plan to fight him and to focus on you. Now, that's loyalty. I hope he understands that". **

"**Well, I wasn't doing it so much to focus on me, more like take the focus away from him. And I still haven't figured out the reason why I've done that yet either". **

"**Well, you build up a special relationship with your jail mate and it really is better to befriend them than to not".**

**Naruto stared at the blonde prison manager – she really wasn't as bad as inmates made her out to be, she wasn't too bad at all. Naruto smiled at her; if they weren't in this kind of liaison than he thought that maybe he could have befriended her. He inwardly sighed. **

"**I want you to come here once every therapy day okay? Hinata told me she thinks your very clever on how you divert every method she uses away from what she wants to talk about to something else and still make it look like you've made a breakthrough. Sarutobi tells me you like to disrupt group therapy a lot and you're not a spiritual person so that isn't working either. So now I want you to come here as well so Sakura can check up on you and help Hinata out. She seems to have gotten some info out about you without pushing too much. Then again, Sakura is a specialist therapist as well as a nurse".**

"**Yeah, well, I kind of felt the need to talk back then – Sakura's not going to get any further than Hinata". **

"**Maybe we should find you a suitable person to talk to. How about Sasuke?"**

"**No way in hell". **

"**Okay then. Just would you please try a little harder in therapy; then you might be able to earn some goodies".**

"**Such as?"**

"**Such as the right to see family and friends". **

**Naruto's mouth dropped open. "Seriously?"**

"**Yep". **

"**Okay, okay, I'll try harder". **

**Sakura came back in the room at this point. She smiled and bowed slightly at Tsunade. **

"**Well, I'll take my leave. Try alright?"**

"**Fine". **

"**Thanks Sakura", Tsunade said and exited the room. There was silence in the room for several minutes after Tsunade's departure and all that time Sakura stared at Naruto oddly. Naruto stared up at her and felt annoyed about it. After several more minutes he finally cracked and asked her why she was staring at him so strangely. She remained silent for a little bit longer before she answered. **

"**Well Naruto I have something important to tell you", the look on her face was a mixture of anxiety and happiness. **

"**What?"**

"**Your brother, Izumi, has hired my friend as his lawyer. They're appealing to get you out of prison". **

**- - - - - **

**Reviews please! Review monster needs feeding! xx **


	7. Feelings

**Well, I'm guessing most readers of this story would have thought I gave this story up. BUT no, I haven't; :D its just taken a long time to get this right – even now, I still don't like it :( - but I did my best for now. Well, long time no speak to all readers, I know, I know, I should have updated AGES ago, but this story is much harder to write than my others. I've also got lots of other stories I'm attempting to type up as well as update current ones – I always start more without finishing the previous. **

**But anywho, I hope you enjoy my wonderful (not) new instalment of Jail Mate and I apologise profusely for lack of update sooner :) SORRY! grovels xx**

Chapter 5 

Sasuke waited nervously in the cell; he paced up and down and felt incredibly stressed. Naruto was moving out of the infirmary of the prison and back down to the cell. The blonde had stopped Sasuke getting beaten up, had stopped whatever the plan was that the seniors were concocting from working and had ended up getting hurt all because of him. Why would he do that? It was one of the questions Sasuke still hadn't got an answer for.

Another thing that was making him nervous was having found that picture – that amazingly happy family; it was gone. Naruto had spoken that his family was broken up but it hadn't registered to him just how dreadful that was. Sasuke hadn't grown up in the friendliest of homes per say so he didn't think that it was as big a deal as it really was. Naruto had a massive family – a family that had been through one torture and now another. His sister-in-law? His parents? What about his other siblings? Izumi? Everything just seemed to point to a disaster that changed everything. And Naruto had lost all of them – gaining nothing but injuries and another guy as a roommate. Him. Sasuke continued to pace up and down the cell nervously waiting.

That was not the only thing on his mind; this was something much deeper and more troublesome.

He liked him.

_No I can't like that dobe. I can't and I don't. _

It was frustrating. The blonde was so amazing a person; he wasn't afraid of Sasuke or anyone else. They had talked about a lot of things as they spent almost every waking moment together as part of their punishment. But they didn't seem to mind – time had flown much quicker than it had for a long time, even when he had his old roommate Zaku. Zaku was an okay guy to bunk with but the emotion that Sasuke was feeling for this certain blonde was much different. Naruto was a different person – hell, he had done his best to play a prank on a guard, disrupted therapy and wasn't afraid to have fun whilst in prison; fun was something that he hadn't experienced for a while, and wasn't even sure he could have in prison. And Naruto had willingly got himself beaten up to help his jail mate. He must like him too right? No normal person would do that unless they really liked them. Sasuke sat down on the battered chair that Naruto liked to read on.

He was beginning to get more frustrated at the thought – he just couldn't seem to make up his mind on decisions that he didn't want to make. He wasn't going to risk ruining the relationship they had and making it uncomfortable by making a move on him. But he didn't want to ignore it either, having it all build up until he unleashed it on Naruto; that was the last thing he wanted. Sasuke also didn't want to talk to Naruto about his own crime; something he knew was inevitably approaching. It would hurt the blonde, offend him, scare him or shock him. It was something so anti-Naruto but it was something he had already done. The memories of it were constantly haunting him.

_He was walking through the street and he spotted him. He was there – why was he there? Could he see him? Did he know he was around? Sasuke's head was in a spin and his breathing became shallow. He felt around in his jacket pocket for the gun. He clenched it tightly. He didn't follow him. He left him. His grip on the gun loosened. He began to make his away around the street again, blocking him from his vision. _

_But he couldn't get him out of his head: he began to remember the horrible events that transpired for years, recalling it all. Just forget, forget, forget. Though he couldn't. _

_He looked up nervously and realised he could no longer see him. His breathing though shallow was still rhythmic until he jumped. _

_Hands touched him from behind and he realised that someone was there. He spun around instantly and he was there, behind him, sneaking up like always. _

"_Hello", he whispered almost seductively. The fear was evidently spread across Sasuke's face but there was no way he could think to hide it. His hand was still touching the gun in his pocket. _

_What to do? What to do?_

_... _

_BANG_

The locking mechanism for their cell jammed slightly and brought Sasuke out of his memory and in to the reality that was facing him. One problem to another. He sat down on the chair and didn't look up until the last minute. The blonde hobbled slightly in to the cell and smiled at him.

"Hey", he said grinning. He didn't look his best by all means but he had colour in his face and he was up and walking around. His arm was wrapped in a bandage, held up by a sling. There were still tinges of bruises on his other arms and slightly on his face. He was still hobbling slightly from the stiffness of his limbs from the fight but he was alright. Sasuke inwardly sighed in relief. He stood up to let Naruto sit down, moving to sit on his bunk.

"Thanks Iruka, I'll be okay. Sasuke will be nice enough to help me I hope", he smirked as Iruka shut the door of the cell and the lock sounded. Naruto sat down and stared at Sasuke. Sasuke was looking at him oddly, as though he was some fascinating creature.

"Yes?" he asked eventually.

"Moron", he replied.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said MORON, moron. What were you thinking? Fighting for me? I'm not a complete pussy you know, I can fight – I'm the number one Junior here".

"No, you aren't; I am. Remember, or can't you count?" Naruto said looking disgusted with himself as soon as he said it.

"Look, I don't give a crap about this killing people bullshit alright, why did you do it really?"

"Do what?"

"Fight for me, why did you fight them instead of letting me fight for myself".

"I was protecting MY honour as the number one Junior here. I was making it clear that it was me and not you that was number one", the blonde replied, his voice not conveying any of the arrogance his words held. "I didn't know they were going to start trying to beat the crap outta me", he added truthfully.

Sasuke sighed again. He wanted to leave the blonde and not talk to him, despite wishing to talk to him for days. He wasn't getting any of the answers he wanted. Naruto was just protecting himself and that was the end of it – he was a fool to think it was anything more. He looked away, tapping his foot on the floor – it was now a rather uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Well...thanks anyway", he whispered. He looked in to the blonde's eyes and saw a weird emotion that he couldn't quite perceive. Sasuke looked down at the floor and before he knew it, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to the blonde smiling sweetly at him. He then punched him in the shoulder; it was weak but still enough to smart. Sasuke grinned.

"You call that a punch?"

"Meh, you couldn't beat me in a fight if I was fit and healthy. And don't even think about taking advantage of me now, I'll get Sakura down here to open a can of whoop-ass on you", Naruto stuck his tongue out at the raven and sat down on his bed next to Sasuke.

"So, you been okay without me here?" he asked.

"Fine", Sasuke replied.

"Didn't cry, did you?"

"Why would I?" Sasuke asked, giving the blonde an odd look.

"Because you don't like being alone do you?" the blonde said looking at him.

Sasuke didn't reply.

"Well, do you think you could help me up to my bunk? I want to lie down for a bit", Naruto asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah sure, but don't get too comfy, we have to go down to dinner soon. The other guys were worried; they'll want to know how you are".

"Didn't get special permission to see me did they?"

"Sakura always tell you everything about me doesn't she?"

"Yep", Naruto replied, as Sasuke helped him up in to his bunk.

Naruto lay on his back staring up at the ceiling – lost in thought again at having seen Sasuke again. He was certain – he was positive; he must have feelings for the raven and that bastard probably knew it.

Naruto sighed. Things weren't supposed to happen this way – he knew he was at least bisexual before he entered prison, but once he saw Sasuke, he knew it must have been gay. The sexy raven and he would be sharing the same cell for at least another ten years each and in the space that he had known him he had already fallen for the raven because of his sweet but sarcastic nature; he was shy but brash; he was just the perfect person to harmonise with him.

But he didn't want to give the raven the satisfaction of knowing it was true. That stubbornness that both of them possessed was what stopped them from at least admitting what they had for the other. It was hardly likely that it could go wrong, there was no chance of cheating really and the only thing that could happen would be that they spent too much time together.

'Sasuke why are you such an oxymoron?' Naruto thought as he gently rested his eyes.

Sasuke was sat on the chair pondering what the blonde meant.

"_Because you don't like being alone do you?"_

What had he meant by that? He loved being alone – hell solitude was the only way to get peace. At least that's what he always thought. Then again, he did feel peace of mind arguing with the blonde over funny things and smirking, watching the blonde getting worked up in to a tizzy fit.

The annoying tension between the two of them also irritated him. They needed to sort it out.

"Naruto?" he asked tentatively, seeing if the blonde was asleep. He heard a faint murmur in response from the blonde.

"Come on, you've been in bed for days, you must want to get down and get ready for dinner. We'll have to go for it soon".

"Fine, I'm coming down".

Naruto slipped down the bunk and landed on his feet wobbly, falling in to Sasuke.

"Gotcha clumsy".

"Well you'd be clumsy too if you had lost full use of your body for a few days".

If felt nice to be holding the blonde. The blonde looked up in to his eyes.

Naruto heard the locks begin to turn and it was time for dinner.

"Come on, I'm here to take you guys", Iruka opened the door to see the two guys glaring at each other, Naruto sat on the chair and Sasuke stood next to the bunk beds. Iruka grabbed Sasuke first and chained him up. He then gently took Naruto by the arm and chained him up loosely as to not damage the blonde further. The two walked down in silence, Sasuke stealing glances at the blonde every so often as they continued the route to the dining area.

When they reached the room and opened the doors, the whole dining area went silent. Then after a few seconds, Naruto heard a weird noise – there was a sea of clapping started by the table in the middle where Naruto saw Kiba standing up on his chair clapping hard for the blonde. The whole Junior Division was clapping wildly for Naruto who had kicked not one, but two senior's asses. Naruto gave them a coy half smile and made his way over to the table, Sasuke in front of him.

"I can't BELIEVE that you beat up the two seniors, man!" Kiba exclaimed, ready to pat Naruto on the back before remembering Naruto's own sustained injuries. Naruto said nothing and sat down at the table. It was obvious to Sasuke, but not everyone else that the attention was making the blonde uncomfortable; people from around the prison, different sections of juniors all came to greet him and congratulate what he did. Naruto didn't condone that kind of behaviour usually but he couldn't not be polite and accept their praise. It slightly annoyed him that the blonde was being pestered by people other than him. He left the table and walked to collect his food and bumped in to two other juniors.

"Heya Uchiha is that your new rival then?"

"What?"

"Well, he's your roommate and he's now taken your place as head of the Division – we're waiting for the new fight to commence. I don't know if you can stand a chance winning against him if he managed to deck two seniors at the same time".

"Hey, morons, I'm not bothered about any stupid title here in this hell hole and I don't think you should bother with it either".

"Well, you did mind the last two people who rivalled your title. What's so special about another?"

"Because he doesn't deserve to be here. That's why".

"Not good enough is it really. We're expecting a fight soon and the winner ain't gonna be you".

The two juniors walked off smirking and laughing to one another. Sasuke was livid. He glared after them.

"Hey, are you really that bothered with this title?"

Sasuke turned around and saw Naruto standing next to him, attempting to queue for food.

"No", Sasuke answered truthfully.

"So, you're not going to start a fight with me then?"

"No".

"So you're a pussy?"

Sasuke smirked. "No, I just don't want another dead body on my conscious".

Naruto grinned in response.

They stayed silent in the queue and after collecting their rations, returned to the table.

The other guys were desperate to know the real gossip of what happened.

"Come on, tell us".

"What's the point? I'm not glorifying what I did and I don't think you should either", Naruto replied patiently.

"But come on, this is the only entertainment we guys get here in prison", Neji stated.

"Well, I don't think Hinata would approve hearing that do you?"

Neji's eyes widened. "Since when have you talked to Hinata?"

"Since the fact she is my individual therapist".

"Tell me how she is will you, please? I haven't spoken to her since she started working here over 18 months ago. She's banned from seeing me, please tell me". There was a sense of desperation in Neji's voice that surprised Naruto somewhat.

"Well, as long as you stop harassing me for details about my fight", Naruto bargained.

"Done", Neji delivered immediately.

"She's fine. I can tell she wants to talk to you – she's a great therapist but her tactics are failing with me. I'm getting more about her out than she is with me. But you can tell she is saddened by something which I'm guessing is you. I'll ask about you next session I have if you want?"

"Great, thanks". The gratitude in Neji's voice surprised Naruto also. It made him realise the effects prison really had on the other people here, even though most of them had planned their crimes, knowing their consequences. Prison really did break a person. Naruto stared down at his plate of food for a few seconds, contemplating. He looked around at his fellow prisoners.

Kiba had to put up with knowing that the partner he probably knew for a long time was dead – and he didn't get to go to the funeral. There may even have been romance there. There could have been much more. Kiba had to put up with being in a different prison from the start. But he was also hiding something else. Naruto wasn't going to press him for information though. If the scruffy brunette wanted to talk to him, then he would.

Shino and Shikamaru were both mysterious characters that Naruto didn't know much about. Eventually they would probably mention something about their drug taking business to him. All of them around the table seemed to mention to him their problems and feelings for some unknown reason to him. Maybe he was still uncorrupted unlike the rest of them. The brothers were also quite interesting; they were both interested in crime and worked together. They were also still together which was also fascinating.

And then there was Lee – Lee had spent time in various prisons by the sound of it and was about to leave prison for good and be released back in to the real world. He had committed a white collar crime as well. How long had Lee actually spent in jail?

Naruto was sat quietly observing the others, avoiding Sasuke's gaze. The raven himself was still an enigma that needed to be solved. He wondered if he had told the nature of his crimes to his fellow prison inmates. Naruto finished his food pretty quickly – after all, prison meals weren't exactly the largest filling meals – and walked over to Iruka to take him back to the cell. Sasuke also followed which he found strange.

"I'm keeping my eye on you Uzumaki – you just keep getting yourself in to trouble", Sasuke said, as though reading his mind.

"Oi, you, no talking when I'm taking you back, you can do that when you get back to the cell", Iruka stated sternly.

Once they had reached the cell, Naruto immediately sat on the chair and began to breathe in and out heavily. The painkillers that Sakura had given him were slowly wearing off and he was beginning to feel the numbing pain of his bruised, cut and bleeding fist. He wanted the painkillers. Sasuke could sense the discomfort of the blonde and realised what the problem was when he saw Naruto clench the bandage of his hand.

"Is it really hurting you?"

Naruto just nodded.

"I'll call Sakura if you want. I'm sure Iruka will fetch her for you".

Naruto shook his head. He looked up in to Sasuke's eyes. There was a burning desire in them that Sasuke found very attractive.

"No, I'm just confused at the moment".

"About what?"

"About you".

Sasuke's mouth went dry. "What?"

"What do you think I mean? This has been going through my mind all day and all I can think about is why I did what I did and what it really had to do with you. Sakura saw something in it; she said that even you took something from this. Then I realised that she was right".

Sasuke said nothing.

"And it's frustrating you know? I didn't want to complicate anything whilst I stayed here and already I've been whipped, on medication, gotten in to a fight with two gang members, been in weekly therapy for the second fucking time in my life, made some weird ass friends and I've also fallen for another guy who just happens to be the guy who's in the same cell as me. I mean, this is the most fucked up prison story I've ever heard-" Naruto was cut off from saying anything more with Sasuke's lips on his, stopping his speech.

The breath was knocked out of Naruto instantly with the suddenness of the kiss. Sasuke's lips were soft and gentle on his own and the feeling made Naruto feel very warm inside. Sasuke began nibbling at Sasuke's lips, latching his teeth softly on them causing Naruto to slightly open his mouth. Sasuke used the parting of his lips to slip his tongue inside his mouth and in to the warm, moist cavern. The battle of the tongues commenced and before long, Naruto's was overpowered with the dominance of Sasuke's tongue. After another minute or so, Naruto withdrew and began slowly catching his breath back. The raven smirked at him.

"Uzumaki you are a real pain in the ass", he whispered. The blonde just smiled back at him.

"Look who's talking".

"Hey, you, your nothing but trouble; you even said it yourself".

"Well, you don't have to remind me then do you?"

"Of course I do; I take every opportunity to work you up, you should know that by now".

"But that's not fair!"

"Oh but it is".

Sasuke smirked at the sulking blonde and realised that everything was back to normal again – well, with a little exception.

- - - - -

Well, bloody hell that took a long time. Hope you like it and the review monster has been starving from no reviews from this story for ages - looks menacingly at owner - okay, my fault, my fault :P well, hope you enjoyed. Update will hopefully not take as long o.O :D xx


	8. Izumi To The Rescue

**Hello!!! :D I bet NONE of you were expecting I would ever update this story again, but here it is - updated one year, nine months and four days later! I uberly, uberly apologise for this being so late, but I hope I have written a chapter that has spiked your interest in this story once again. Enjoy guys, I hope I've done you justice! (No pun intended) and I look forward to any abuse you wanna throw at me for being so late :P xx**

Chapter 6

Naruto was lying on his bed, looking out of the small window towards the gate. Today was the day that Izumi was coming to visit him and he was thoughtful as well as excited. He could be bringing good or bad news and he wasn't sure if he was ready to hear whatever information Izumi had for him.

What had happened in the months that he had been in prison? What had happened to his family? What about his parents' funeral? They had to have had the funeral by now - and he hadn't been able to see them a final time.

There was a flush sounding somewhere in the distance of Naruto's conscience and Sasuke walked out of the toilet and sat on the chair, looking up at Naruto. The blonde had healed well since his bust up with the seniors a few weeks back; the two of them had also been getting up to some little bust ups of their own which resulted in more pleasurable activities.

"Naruto? You ready? We have to go down to breakfast soon. Didn't Izumi say he would turn up around ten o'clock?"

Naruto said nothing for a while before sighing and sitting up, swinging his legs over the side to where the ladder was. He remained hunched over slightly, as if there was something on his mind. Which there was.

"Yeah I know. I'm just nervous to know what he's going on with my family that's all".

Sasuke nodded. "I'm sure it will be good news".

"Don't your relatives come to visit you?"

Sasuke looked in to Naruto's eyes for a few seconds, doing some soul-searching before replying; "My brother is dead. My parents tend to visit me on the anniversary of his death as well as my birthday and my conviction date - which is actually coming up soon. Though if something comes up regarding the family in like press or anything like that, they also tend to stop by and tell me that I'm worthless and horrible. My mum has to force my dad to see me as he doesn't want to".

Naruto looked saddened by what his jail mate had confided. He jumped down, wincing slightly at the tingly feelings in his feet from impact and walked up to Sasuke and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Maybe one day we will actually be able to understand one another when we hear these small stories", he smiled weakly. Sasuke gave him a chaste kiss on the lips to confirm.

The sound of the locks turning reached Naruto's ears and the blonde pulled from the Uchiha to walk closer to the door, ready to be taken to the dining room. Sasuke followed suit and the normal transport ritual began.

Prison had become a lot more bearable the past few weeks for Naruto. He was sleeping better, though still on the tablets, on pain medication for the wounds he had sustained from the seniors - who had had their sentences extended for their indiscretions - and he was also happy chatting to the friends that he had made. But the most important and happiness-increasing change was that Sasuke was such a hot and caring jail mate.

Though the one thing that still bothered him was that neither of them felt open enough to tell them the reasons behind their respective crime.

Three people were dead because of them.

From both points of view, they weren't psychotic that they just picked people on the street to murder. From what Naruto had deduced, something that struck fear and anger so badly in Sasuke made him kill the person that evoked those feelings. And he knew that the anger and horror of his own mistake resulted in the deaths of two people.

And now they were both in prison. The same prison.

Naruto sat amongst the rest of his fellow prison mates, chatting about various things. But even they could tell he wasn't as upbeat as usual, his usual cheerful disposition had turned in to a despondent mood as of late. It had been decreasing slowly as the visit approached.

"So Naruto, you have your visit today?" Kiba asked him.

"Yeah I do, I'm happy about it but I'm so worried, I can't help it".

"Well, when you get there, I'm sure you will be happy that he has come - even if he may have bad news".

Naruto nodded.

"What kind of bad news are you expecting?"

Naruto took a breath and decided to get the feelings of his chest, regardless of the consequences. He knew he would regret it, but it was time to start opening up. Therapy was encouraging it.

"My family to be dead".

There was silence as the look in Naruto's eyes told them all that he was not joking. All of them wanted to say something, wanted to comfort the blonde. Had this information anything to do with why he killed two people?

"Why…?" Kiba looked dumbstruck.

Everyone else remained silent.

"I'm not going to tell you how and why, I-I'm not ready yet", Naruto spoke quietly to the shocked group of guys before him, "But I…I-I am so, so scared". The blonde refused to cry in front of them, he didn't even think he could. He looked at all of the prisoners surrounding him, taking in their reactions. Kiba looked down at the table, his eyes hazy in thought; Gaara and Kankuro looked at each other sadly and then turned to look back at Naruto. Neji wanted to say something, and he was mouthing wordlessly to himself as he tried to find the right words. Shino and Shikamaru looked as impassive as always, though Shikamaru's jaw twitched at Naruto's statement, and Shino's features tautened. Lee touched Naruto's shoulder to try and empathise.

Naruto didn't want to look at Sasuke - who knew what he was thinking? He refused his eyes as they tried to dart to the raven who was sat within grasp. He heard a chair move and he saw that Sasuke had gotten up and walked away to where Kakashi was standing - chained up, he moved on. Naruto was speechless.

"What the fuck?" Kankuro shouted, he flung his arms in the air in frustration.

"Why'd he just walk off?" Kiba asked.

Naruto said nothing for a while - not until he could no longer withstand the seven sets of eyes burning in to him.

"I haven't told him about the reason why I killed two people".

"Why not?" Neji asked, words allowing themselves to form now.

"Because I haven't. And he hasn't told me the circumstances surrounding his own crime. It's a two way streak and I don't think either of us can find it within ourselves to talk about it yet".

"Well its not like you haven't got a while before you do. Then you will be able to understand one another and be happy for the next decade or so", Kiba smiled.

Naruto shifted his gaze away from the others once again. He hadn't told anyone about the appeal of his sentence; it was hard to say it - not because he knew they would be happy for him on the outside; but on the inside, who knew what they would be feeling? He finally had met people who were interesting; who were worthwhile, and treated him with kindness and care - you know for a manly bunch of criminals who he only saw at meal times.

Everyone continued to talk and eat, though the conversation was not as happy and bubbly as it usually was due to Naruto's anxiety that he had shared and Sasuke's sudden decision to leave. He knew that when he got up and left them at that moment, that they would talk about it. He bid them goodbye and walked over to Iruka and asked him to take him to Sakura to talk.

"Well, I shouldn't. But seeing as you are in her care and you aren't like other criminals here who are such… anywho, I'll take you to see Sakura", Iruka smiled which made Naruto smile as well.

The two walked along for a few minutes until they reached the infirmary and Sakura welcomed Naruto as he walked in. He had begun to start opening himself up with therapy recently; to Sakura and Hinata, not with the other therapy sessions. He needed to talk more or he would become insane - and the person he felt he could talk to the most was Sakura seeing as she was the one who helped him to start voicing his worries in the first place.

The pink-haired nurse was finishing up some reports as she smiled and greeted him, welcoming him over to his favourite bed where he sat and talked to her - and was a patient in a few times as well. There was no one currently residing in the sickbay, something that Naruto had noted was quite a normal phenomena. He sat down, took a deep breath and explained his problem to her.

"Well, its natural to get edgy about these kinds of things. You both are keeping really big secrets so you don't want to talk about it until you feel the time is right. And you both understand that - its natural. But that statement that you said probably completely threw him. One, you admitted your fear in front of all of you instead of him first which may have made him feel a little inadequate. And two, also, because something so horrible happening to you is more than he can stand, especially seeing as he doesn't know the circumstances behind it".

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. What she said made sense. They didn't know these reasons about the other. And he had sprung his worries on Sasuke too quickly. Naruto bit his lip and nodded again. He thanked Sakura for her advice and then continued to talk to her about other things, trying to calm his mind from his meeting with his brother - something Sakura was well aware he was worried about.

After a further fifteen minutes, Iruka knocked on the door and told him that it was soon to be ten and that he was to take him down to the interview building.

The interview building was separate from where the prisoners were held because of the enforcement of protection of the population. Naruto had to be chained doubly so, according to Iruka as it was a time that many inmates tried to escape as they entered the outside.

Naruto had not been on the outside for a very long time, and enjoyed the feel of the fresh air on his face, and the sensation of it in his lungs so thoroughly that he asked Iruka if they could slow down so he could savour it.

"Iruka, if I tried to run now, what would happen?"

"Well, the consequences are very severe - some sentences have even been extended when people caused harm to officers. Are you thinking of running?"

"No; I'm paying for my crime and I know that its what I need to do. I just haven't been outside in so long, I miss the freshness of the air. The air in the prison can't even be called air - its so stale in comparison".

"Well, the Junior Division get to go outside every so often, its just the area is being tarmac-covered and managed better. You may see it at some point, but maybe you will have left prison by then when you win the appeal".

"I highly doubt that I will win the appeal - who is going to let someone who murdered two people on the streets to roam again?"

"Well, its not like I'm saying there won't be restrictions, because there will. I'm just saying that the law in this country very much considers what is best for the family and the children involved. And in your case, you have a lot of family members".

"Yeah…" Naruto avoided talking to Iruka after that last comment. He was going to have to focus all his energy so his emotions did not run riot when he saw his older brother. After all, it had been months and he had missed him so much. Izumi was the last person to see him before he committed his cardinal sin.

Iruka told Naruto that as Izumi was family that they would be allowed an interview room as opposed to talking over the phone with see through plexiglass windows blocking the inmate from the visiting. Naruto was thrilled that this was allowed and was getting more and more excited at the prospect of seeing his brother by the minute; the anxieties slowly subsiding as the excitement increased. He was practically skipping as he reached his interview room.

Naruto stood outside the room and watched the door open; inside was a twenty year old guy with spiky blonde hair, chewing some gum. He had the exact same blue eyes as Naruto and was wearing a bright green baseball cap turned to the side and mismatching clothes. He turned to see a blur of grey jump on him, hugging him.

"Naruto!"

"Izumi!"

The two brothers hugged each other, Naruto wanted to cry from the relief of seeing him alive and well. After several minutes, they sat down at the table and started talking.

The interview room was so plain and dull, with just a table and a few chairs inside. There was a window that mirrored their image which was the advantage point for officers to monitor the interviews, in case things got out of hand or people tried to sneak things in. Both Naruto and Izumi were unimpressed with the décor quite obviously.

"So…moment of truth. How are they?"

Izumi took a deep breath. It looked like he didn't want to say anything about them at all "All I know at the moment is that Taya and Kirashi are going to be fine. As for Eve and Ellie I'm unsure and for Rikku's case, she is in critical condition".

Naruto took the information in; it wasn't good, but it also wasn't the worst news he could hear. Everyone was still alive, at least for now.

"Two down, three to go then I guess", Naruto commented sadly.

"Yeah".

"What about Mum and Dad?"

"We had a simple funeral for them - only me and a few other guests were there though. However when everyone is free from their restraints we will have another ceremony for family only".

"That will be good. I do want to visit them".

"Speaking of visits - one of the main reasons I need to talk with you is the upcoming appeal of your sentence. It should be in about two months time as we've taken the quickest slot that will allow us to put together a complete case of why you should be able to come out of prison".

"Really? That short?"

"Yeah. I can't handle this on my own; I am worrying out of my mind!" Izumi's breathing began to quicken and Naruto rubbed his back to calm him down. Izumi suffered from panic attacks when he was under immense stress and if there was ever a time for it to happen, this would be the time. "Your in prison, our other siblings are in hospital and our parents are dead. I spent a while arranging the ceremony for our parents and talking to this lawyer for your case. I'm trying to look after my daughter as well and maintain Kirashi because he is awake and wondering where you are".

Naruto put his arm around Izumi and told him everything was going to be okay. Kirashi, like several other members of their family, was born with a few problems. After his birth, their mum got quite seriously ill so Naruto was the one who looked after him the most, read him stories, changed him, fed him as well. He was also the first to notice that he wasn't able to speak very well for his age. Naruto went with Izumi to the doctors and he was diagnosed as having Asperger Syndrome, Aphasia and Developmental Dyspraxia. At the same point, Izumi was treated for his panic attacks - their mum suffering from being very ill was the first time he ever had them - and Naruto was also explained to about his ADHD. A lot of their family members had issues with their health but they were a happy loving family so it was never a big issue. But Kirashi was only able to communicate with Naruto well as he had been looking after him the longest. That made Naruto happy he was so important, but he knew that his younger brother was going to be disadvantaged his whole life and that made him sad.

"Well, tell him that I'll be along to see him soon if he's a good boy. And if there is any way that I can get out of here and visit him, I will".

"Okay then". Izumi rested his words for a minute or so to get his breathing under control. "Now, if we are successful with the appeal, there is no doubt that your life will be restricted. But we can use this to our advantage if you immediately agree to these kinds of things - it'll help the case. With things such as tagging and house arrest for example, are you okay with these?"

"Yes, absolutely. Anything to look after the family. Don't worry Izumi, we are a strong family - we'll all pull through", Naruto replied, smiling weakly.

"Thanks Naruto. I need your support and your reassurance on this. How is prison life holding up anyway?"

Naruto lifted up his uniform and showed him the scars from his first day in prison.

"Fucking hell! Naruto?! What the fuck?! What did you do?!"

"Pranked a guard".

"Naruto you absolute idiot!"

"Hey its not my fault!"

"I know, I know. You know, everyone in this family thought that you grow out of this attention disorder of yours - but apparently around seventy percent of symptoms continue in to adulthood. I guess I can't really blame you".

"Well, I'm going through therapy again, but it's a little more successful this time as I think its about time I open up about myself. But I'm on sleeping tablets to help me sleep restfully, made a few friends as well. Things are bad but I'm going to survive - even if I do end up serving my entire sentence".

"Well, hopefully I'll win the appeal, and you'll be out within a matter of months".

"Maybe".

"Better than in a few dozen years".

"True. My jail mate's been here for nearly a year and a half now".

"Really? What's his name?" Izumi looked very interested.

"Sasuke Uchiha".

"Uchiha? The prestigious family? I don't remember much about the case but it had something to do with a feud in the family and something to do with a murder. Have you asked him about it?"

"No. We made a silent pact not to talk about our situations until we were ready".

"So he knows nothing about our family situation?"

"Not really".

"Wow. So, do you like this guy then? Usually you would beat info out of a guy if you didn't get your own way".

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Ooh shut up!"

The brothers chatted for another half an hour or so, Naruto explaining to him the situation with the seniors, the depths of therapy and how crazy some of the people were, as well as informing Izumi about all the people he had met since his arrival - including about Sasuke. Before long, Naruto had to bid his brother goodbye.

"Goodbye Izumi - hope to see you again soon".

"Good luck Naruto. Don't worry - I'm working hard on this appeal".

They hugged again and more than anything, Naruto did not want to let go. Being in his brother's arms made him feel safe, reminded him of home and it was a feeling he had missed and desperately longed for. Soon, Naruto used all his strength to make himself let go and was led out by Iruka, Izumi sat down on the chair; Naruto caught a tear tricking down his older sibling's face. It was when Naruto reached the stretch of the journey that was outside that he started to cry. He stopped, feeling the tug on the chains scratch his skin but he didn't care. He needed to let it out before anyone saw him.

"Hey Naruto? Here", Iruka handed him a tissue from his pocket. "I know you want to stay out here, but you aren't allowed to stay out here too long".

"I know, I know. Its just, my older brother. I miss him already".

Iruka said nothing but allowed the blonde a few more moments of silent crying before he could lead the blonde away.

It was a long journey to the cell in Naruto's mind. The evidence of his tears was still on his face and he didn't want to let Sasuke see them.

Sasuke.

They had not seen each other since their first visit to the dining room. Naruto wondered what he was going to say to him when he got back.

If he was there.

Naruto watched the locks turn and the door open; he immediately walked straight in to the bathroom, not looking to see if Sasuke was even there or not, never mind what he was doing. He remained in there for several minutes, before he heard a distinct voice call his name.

"Naruto?"

Cautiously, the blonde opened the door of the bedroom to see Sasuke looking straight at him, sat on his bed.

"Hey you okay? First meeting is always emotional".

Naruto nodded and before he could shut the door again, Sasuke wedged a book between, to force him to come out.

"Are you not going to speak to me now? How was your brother? And…your family?"

After much silence on Naruto's part, looking up in to Sasuke's eyes that were usually so cold, to see them so soft, Naruto had to say the positive. "Taya and Kirashi are going to be okay", Naruto whispered.

"T-that's good! Right?"

"My sister Taya and my brother Kirashi are going to be okay", Naruto reaffirmed the statement, "Of course it is".

Sasuke looked happy-confused as he smiled at Naruto.

"Listen I know you don't know the full story and maybe I was out of line for dropping a bombshell on you earlier, but trust me, that's great news. Its some of the best I could hear. My brother Izumi is fine, he was giving me an update on my family and their condition".

Sasuke decided not to ask any further on the statement. He smiled, knowing that he would talk when he was ready.

"Right, I'm going to lie down for a bit", the blonde said as he climbed up the ladder. "I will see you later". Naruto rested on the mattress and stared up at the bland ceiling and smiled. He looked to the picture to his side and wished with all his heart that he could good news again soon.

- - - - -

Reviews! Beezelneff has been dusting the corner of the library where the notes and chapters of this story lie, but he would love any addition to the collection :D xx


End file.
